For example, I was in alarmed to learn that "eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls diet; more than five million Americans suffer from eating disorders and ninety percent of those are adolescent and young adult women; the number one magic wish for young girls age 11-17 is to be thinner; and between elementary and high school, the percentage of girls in the U.S. who are "happy with the way I am" drops from 60% to 29%." (from Just Think Foundation) These facts were from the JTF's Body Image Project compiled by Jean Holzgang that is an awareness campaign on body image. In fashion magazines, many young girls see "waif-thin" models like Kate Moss who is one of many top models that sadly represents the "perfect" body image that young girls are striving towards. Unfortunately, many teen girls do not understand that looking exactly like their favorite supermodel is unrealistic. In fact, as for the supermodel photos, many are retouched before they are printed out, the "fashion clothes" are often duct-taped to enhance fit, many blemishes are covered or altered, there is at least two inches removed from the thighs, and the average fashion model weighs 23-25% less than the average woman. All this in order to create that "ideal" or "perfect" body image everyone is striving for and sadly dying for. This compulsion to be "thin" has led many young girls to have a negative body image that dangerously paves the way to eating disorders, such as Anorexia and Bulimia, in order for them to achieve their desire for thinness. In television and movies, many teen girls watch and observe these actresses, such as Calista Flockhart, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Gweneth Paltrow, Lara Flynn Boyle, and many others who have seemed to have went from an "average" weight to a "sickly, death look". This seems to be setting a dangerous trend for the American culture, particularly women and young girls. In fact, there are endless images of thin women on television, in movies, in women and men's magazines and in commercials.
