Shock survey reveals young girls diet obsession
Thursday 23 April 2009
A horrifying new study has shown that one in five 11-year-old girls are dieting, and as many as one in three have already tried to lose weight despite their young age.
The shocking survey further revealed that five per cent said they were always on a diet because they were so unhappy with the shape of their body, and a third believed that they were 'too fat' and 'hated their tummy'.
One in three of the 1,500 girls who were questioned blamed pictures of skinny celebrities for making them feel under pressure to look their Hollywood idols. Another worrying factor is the easy access to pro-anorexia websites on the internet.
One in four admitted they had researched weight loss tips on the internet or discussed shedding pounds with friends they met online. A whopping 33 per cent of all young girls have looked on the internet to find out more about dieting, slimming products and calorie control.
The survey, comissioned by internet parental control software CyberSentinel, shows the extreme - and potentially dangerous - measures young girls are going to in order to emulate celebrities or 'fit in' with their peers.
Where parents used to be concerned about their children meeting 'strangers' online, this is another very real risk to the health of young girls.
Ellie Puddle, director of CyberSentinel, said:
“Children and teenagers are obviously becoming directly affected by the modern-day pressure to emulate celebrity standards of beauty. As a result, very young girls are spending a significant amount of time researching ways to achieve this secretly online.
“Parents often assume that children will transfer the guidelines and life-skills you provide for them in the real world to the cyber world. But this is not always the case – parents should be prepared to talk to children about their activities and interests in the online world, to guide them on what is appropriate or not, and why."
For more information on online safety go to www.cybersentinel.co.uk
Posted by welshwonder
RE: Shock survey reveals young girls diet obsession
my 6 year old niece is obsessed with her weight, it doesnt help that my
sister only gives her half the fat & other health foods going.
for a 6 year old she is sooooo skinny & her clothes hang off her.
Posted 04/05/2009 23:51:54
Posted by linz85
RE: Shock survey reveals young girls diet obsession
my sister who is 12 is obsessed with her weight and it doesnt help when magazines like closer are always putting celeb diets and bikini bodys all over there pages of magazines it makes young girls diet just to try an look like what theyve seen they can make them selfs sick.
Posted 06/05/2009 19:35:20
Posted by welshwonder
RE: Shock survey reveals young girls diet obsession
linz85, have u noticed how much the mags contradicte themselves? one page slaggs off victoria beckham off for being stick thin or skinny & unhappy etc then turn over 2 pages its diets diets diets, myleen klass looks discustingly skinny & totally annorexic, she wont put any weight on god forbid incase her precious gray looks at another woman cos she got a spot of fat on her body. i want to hold her down & force feed her LARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 06/05/2009 19:41:43