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Deeply disturbing women and body image facts

• The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 164 pounds. The average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.

• The average size of the “ideal” woman, as portrayed by models, has become progressively thinner over the years and has stabilized at around 20% below the average weight. This thin ideal is unachievable for most women.

• A 1995 study found that three minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty, and ashamed.

• It is estimated that 40-50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in time.

• One out of every four college aged women has an eating disorder. 1/3 of women suffered from extreme dieting or an eating disorder in their lifetime.

• Almost half of all women smokers acknowledge smoking as one of the best ways to control their weight. Of these women, 25% will die of a disease caused by smoking.

• At age thirteen, 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.

• In a sample of male and female high school students, girls had higher body dissatisfaction scores than boys on all measures. Girls reported magazines as their primary source of information regarding diet and health. Boys reported their parents as their primary source of information. (See Real Magazine Covers/Women Are Brainwashed & be sure to like our facebook page!)

• A majority of girls in a 1999 study (59 %) reported dissatisfaction with their body shape, and 66 & expressed a desire to lose weight. Only 29 percent of the girls were overweight.

• At 5’9” tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 which is considered severely underweight. Because of her ridiculous proportions (39” bust, 18” waist, 33” thighs and a size 3 shoes), if she was a real woman, she wouldn’t be able to walk upright – she would have to walk on all fours. Note that the target market for Barbie Doll sales are girls ages 3 to 12.

• Nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2007. Women had nearly 10.6 million cosmetic procedures, 91% percent of the total.

Please see comments for more information or where you can find more body-image statistics.

Interesting Study: Media Exposure and the Subsequent Effects on Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, and Drive for Thinness: A Review of the Current Research