Today’s body image
Every day we are exposed to hundreds of images of the body beautiful. We imagine that if we had that perfect body, we'd be happier, more successful and our relationships improved. There is a huge range of treatments available offering the quick fix that will help us obtain that perfect body image: a Hollywood tan in 60 seconds, whiter teeth in a matter of minutes and lines and wrinkles erased from our faces in our lunch breaks!

Shawna, 24, from Truro says: ‘I think I look better with a tan so I make sure that I have one all year. In the summer I’ll try to get one naturally, but the rest of the time I just get it sprayed on – simple and quick!’

Can money buy happiness?
Research in the UK suggests that the wealthier we are, the more likely we are to dislike our body. Experts think there’s more pressure on the wealthy to achieve the thin 'ideal' because they have the money to do so and are more exposed to media images. Researchers at Glasgow University found that women are up to 10 times more likely to feel unhappy with their body image than men – often seeing themselves as overweight even when they’re a healthy weight for their height.

Designer men
This pressure to look good affects men also. John, 29, from Liverpool says has recently joined a gym to lose weight with the goal of looking good on the beach in time for his next holiday. Another reason he wants to slim down is so that he can wear more designer clothes: ‘sometimes I don't feel good when I try designer clothes. They may not fit as the sizes tend to be smaller than high street clothes’.

Taking it too far
In a bid to solve our body image ‘problems’, we can always turn on the TV for help. No dress sense? ‘Trinny and Susannah’ can rebuild your life with the perfect outfits, can’t lose weight? ‘You are what you eat’ presenter Gillian McKeith will humiliate you into eating more veg and as for plastic surgery, no problem, we can even watch it live!

An obsession with body image can lead to serious illnesses and conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, obesity and body dysmorphic disorder, not to mention mental illness such as clinical depression. It’s a sad fact that in today’s faster-paced world, there are certain industries that thrive on these; food, diet, medical, and fashion to name a few.

The trend of body-consciousness looks set to continue in many different ways.

Rebecca
December 2006/January 2007

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