It seems that it is impossible to escape the issue of weight in our society. From an early age you hear your mother complaining about how fat she is and watch her going from diet to diet in order to shift a few pounds, not that you can ever really tell the difference! As you enter your teenage years you become more aware of your own body and how others judge you by your size, so that you start tinkering with your diet and exercising more in order to shift a bit of weight, something which usually carries on well into adulthood.
It doesn't help that the media is so preoccupied with weight. There are always news stories and documentaries examining the impact of rising obesity levels on society, so that you're under no illusion that obesity is bad. If you let yourself become overweight you are at greater risk of developing health problems that make it harder to work, leaving you unable to contribute to the health services that you will become increasingly reliant upon.
It is not only the issue of obesity that is highlighted on television and in magazines, though, since at the same time there is concern about the influence the media has on anorexia amongst adolescent girls, in particular. There is a fear that putting ultra-thin models and actresses on show in order to inspire others to admire their beauty and want to emulate their success is sending out the wrong message. There are many complex reasons why individuals develop eating disorders, but clearly this societal fixation with weight doesn't help.
Whether you're fat, thin or somewhere in the middle, it is hard to accept the size you are and learn to love the skin you're in when you're surrounded by images that are designed to encourage you to transform yourself. You are made to think about your weight, even if you're a perfectly healthy size, because you are bombarded with images of slim, attractive young things wearing fashionable clothing and you want to look the best you can.
When you watch television or flick through a magazine you notice there are plenty of slimming groups for you to join and diet products for you to buy that will supposedly help you lose a few pounds and you can quite easily get sucked into buying things you don't really need and that won't even help you manage your weight. It is not only the media that shapes your attitude towards weight, though, since friends and family also influence you. If all your friends are slim, you want to be, too; if a family member goes on a diet, you may decide to because you don't want to be left out. Clearly, there are more important issues in the world than weight, but many people find that their self-esteem is affected by their size and that their weight undermines their enjoyment of life. For these individuals, weight can become an obsession which only makes them feel more miserable.
No comments:
Post a Comment