Buying a bathing suit can ruin a shopping trip for any woman. Finding a flattering suit is the challenge of every spring shopping spree. Losing weight for beach and pool season is a common goal among men and women of all ages, however, young women in America may be taking weight loss goals much too seriously.
The relentless issue of the image of a women in the U.S. is key here. Girls and young women see skin and bones models on magazine covers and commercials every day. Those girls hear males praise their perfect bodies constantly. These ever present images make it extra difficult to throw on a swim suit and head to the beach without giving the mirror a second glance.
That’s why this time of year the girl’s locker room or the aisles of The Gap are full of conversation dedicated to diet plans and workout schedules. Many females (and possibly males) stop eating all together if it means having an acceptable beach bod by Spring Break. It seems that the culture fad of Cancun or Cabo trips for college students has furthered the desire to drop pounds-regardless of the hazards involved.
Of course weight loss can be a happy and healthy thing, but in many cases girls are losing weight in unhealthy ways for unhealthy reasons. It seems to me that this time of year is a prime time for schools and organizations to enforce to young men and women the importance of losing weight in a healthy way, rather than succombing to what may seem to be easier.
I thought you were going in a humorous direction and share a funny story about one of your friends, but then you took a turn toward the serious.
Links are good, and you offer good advice. But you’re missing that one staggering statistic about x number of women ages 18-25 who suffer from eating disorders or something like that. Some nugget that the reader can remember and say, Wow!
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Comment by prof washburn — April 24, 2006 @ 10:37 pm