What are you wearing right now? It may sound like something a perverted man would say to you over the phone but think about it; what are you wearing? Right now I’m wearing a Hugo Boss top, Dolce & Gabbana jeans, a Gucci belt and Converse shoes. If you’re not dense you should now know what the gist of this article is. One word, fashion, fashion designers designed my clothes and the actual fashion influenced my style. That’s all wonderful; I’m a big fan of designer clothes and what not but I’m not here to talk to you about the clothes, I’m going to talk about obsession of weight that comes with fashion, the constant need to be skinny. That’s what I’m going to inform you about.

This may not necessarily be the fault of the fashion designers, although that’s debatable. This is more the issue created by the media. In this day and age we have this ideology that being thin and skinny is sexy, shoved down our throats. Everywhere I look I see skinny women walking around me. From when I’m out shopping with mates in Oxford Street or I’m just watching the TV. I know so many girls my age and younger wanting to be what they see in the street and on the TV; they hate their figures, their hips and curves. I’ve seen girls as young as five who are caught in this mentality. Fashion and it’s portrayal in the media can have such a strong action on people that it makes them want to completely change themselves. It’s natural to change but when influenced so heavily that you metamorphous into a completely different person, it becomes worrying.

Nowadays people want to be skinny in anyway possible and they want it fast. People go under the knife and go through surgery to decrease the size of their stomach; this is called a Gastric Bypass. Then we have extreme diets, Atkins was one where people would completely cut out carbohydrates, we have loads of vegetable diets where people just survive off vegetables, soup diets where you consume nothing but soups. I know someone personally who was obsessed with their body weight and mass and done one of the ubiquitous soup diets. She done it for two days and on the third day she fainted and had to be taken to hospital for immediate recovery. Lucky for her she got out of it fine but this is what people do. People starve themselves. They get to such a point where their body no longer has any fat and starts feeding off their muscles and this is where it gets incredibly dangerous. The heart is a muscle, and since the body doesn’t have specific
muscles to eat off, it could eat off the heart which ultimately could result in death!

This is just the tip of the iceberg, the health hazards are beyond comprehension people who do these crash diets and go under the knife know of the health hazards. Anorexics especially put a huge amount of stress onto their bodies, but before we go into that. How many of you actually know what anorexia is and how it affects our bodies? Let’s take a look at it:
“Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia often control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs. It primarily affects young adolescent girls in the Western world and has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric condition, with approximately 10% of people diagnosed with the condition eventually dying due to related factors. Anorexia nervosa is a complex condition, involving psychological, neurobiological, and sociological components.

Anorexia is a life threatening condition that can put a serious strain on many of the body's organs and physiological resources. A recent review of the scientific literature outlined a number of reliable findings in this area. Anorexia puts a particular strain on the structure and function of the heart and cardiovascular system, with slow heart rate (bradycardia) and elongation of the QT interval seen early on. People with anorexia typically have a disturbed electrolyte balance, particularly low levels of phosphate, which has been linked to heart failure, muscle weakness, immune dysfunction, and ultimately death. Those who develop anorexia before adulthood may suffer stunted growth and subsequent low levels of essential hormones (including sex hormones) and chronically increased cortisol levels. Osteoporosis can also develop as a result of anorexia in 38-50% of cases, as poor nutrition leads to the retarded growth of essential bone structure and low bone mineral density. It does not harm everybody the same way.
Changes in brain structure and function are early signs of the condition. Enlargement of the ventricles of the brain is thought to be associated with starvation, and is partially reversed when normal weight is regained. Anorexia is also linked to reduced blood flow in the temporal lobes, although since this finding does not correlate with current weight, it is possible that it is a risk trait rather than an effect of starvation.”

Now we all known officially what anorexia is and this is what so many people are putting themselves through, just so they can be like what they see on the TV. Now we’ve covered anorexia lets take a look at its partner, bulimia which often comes along with anorexia. Bulimia is basically throwing up after every meal, in hopes to avoid weight gain. This is also known as purging, it comes usually in the form of vomiting but can come in the form of excessive use of laxatives, enemas and other medications. I personally have known many people who are a custom to this condition. It’s like second nature to them; it doesn’t even seem to bother them that this is a serious condition. Some actually enjoy it, some don’t. Some hate it and do it so they won’t get picked on at school for being a bit overweight or just so they can be accepted into the crowds of sheep that follow the trends. Now let’s just take a look at consequences of bulimia:

Bulimia can result in following health problems:
• Malnutrition

• Dehydration

• Electrolyte imbalance

• Hyponatremia

• Damaging of the voice

• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies

• Teeth erosion and cavities, gum disease

• Sialadenosis (salivary gland swelling)

• Potential for gastric rupture during periods of binging

• Esophageal reflux

• Irritation, inflammation, and possible rupture of the esophagus

• Laxative dependence

• Peptic ulcers and pancreatitis

• Emetic toxicity due to ipecac abuse

• Swelling of the face and cheeks, especially apparent in the lower eyelids due to the high pressure of blood in the face during vomiting.

• Callused or bruised fingers

• Dry or brittle skin, hair, and nails, or hair loss

• Lanugo

• Edema

• Muscle atrophy

• Decreased/increased bowel activity

• Digestive problems that may be triggered, including Celiac, Crohn's Disease

• Low blood pressure, hypotension

• Orthostatic hypotension

• High blood pressure, hypertension

• Iron deficiency, anemia

• Hormonal imbalances

• Hyperactivity

• Depression

• Insomnia

• Amenorrhea

• Infertility

• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

• High risk pregnancy, miscarriage, still-born babies

• Diabetes

• Elevated blood sugar or hyperglycemia

• Ketoacidosis

• Osteoporosis

• Arthritis

• Weakness and fatigue

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Cancer of the throat or voice box

• Liver failure

• Kidney infection and failure

• Heart failure, heart arrhythmia, angina

• Seizure

• Paralysis

• Potential death caused by heart attack or heart failure; lung collapse; internal bleeding, stroke, kidney failure, liver failure; pancreatitis, gastric rupture, perforated ulcer, depression and suicide.

This list is taken from Wikipedias’ entry on Bulimia.

This is what so many people but themselves through. Infertility, osteoporosis (a condition where bone mineral density is reduced), cancer and heart failure, just to name a few, bulimia usually comes hand-in-hand with anorexia so with both of these conditions putting immense pressure on your internal organs and your body as an overall. It’s a miracle that people with these conditions live at all.

In conclusion, I hope I have raised awareness of these issues and I hope that you go away from your computer screen thinking about this. This is a very serious issue involving many girls from the Western World; I’ll leave one thing up to you as the reader to decide. Whose fault do you think it is? Is it the fashion industry? The media? Or the people who are affected by these conditions themselves? You decide.

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