teen magazines

"50 Shortcuts to a Sexier Body" (Glamour)

"6 Ways to Thin -- Easy Diets That Really Work" (Allure)

"Lose 8 Pounds This Month -- And Win Spa, Skin Care and Exercise Products" (Self Special Weight Loss Issue)

"Get A Bikini Body by Spring!" (Shape)

"Drop the Weight for Good" (Redbook)

And on the teen rack:

"Get the Body You Want" (Seventeen)

"236 Ways to Rock Your Looks" (Teen)

"Get Hotter Abs, Legs and Butt -- Now!" (CosmoGirl)


These are just a few of the kinds of things you can find on a few popular teenage magazine covers.

Originally, I was actually planning on writting about diet fads, but I realized some one already had. So, I decided to focus on teen magazines and there obsession with dieting and weight loss. Being a teen is hard enough and for most just an awkward time of life. Girls in particular struggle with not only regular pressures like school and friends but also serious body image issues. It is hard not to be concerned about your weight when America revolves so much around the media, which is full of unhealthy skinny models and diet fads. I read a few good articles and here are some pieces of them...



*Most of the estimated 7 million women and girls in the United States who have eating disorders developed them in their teens, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, an educational and self-help organization.


*Eating disorders can have significant medical complications, such as heart problems, electrolyte imbalance and even death; there is a mortality rate of 5.6 percent per decade for those diagnosed with anorexia, according to the British medical journal the Lancet. It's estimated that bulimia and anorexia affect 1 to 2 percent of female adolescents and adults, and partial syndrome rates as high as 15 percent have been reported, according to the journal Eating Behaviors.


*A number of studies have shown a relationship between adolescents who regularly read fashion magazines, with their thin-ideal images, and eating disorders. A study in the January 2007 issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is the first to show, however, that frequent reading about dieting can do long-lasting harm, predicting unhealthy weight-control behaviors five years later for female adolescent girls, though not their male counterparts.


*The study also found that the odds of engaging in unhealthy weight-control behaviors (fasting, skipping meals, smoking cigarettes) were twice as high for adolescent girls who frequently read magazine articles about dieting and weight loss than for those who did not read such articles.


*Among the highest-frequency readers of magazine articles on dieting and weight loss, the incidence of extreme weight-control behaviors (such as vomiting or using laxatives) was three times higher compared with nonreaders.



One awesome thing I read was that the magazine YM's new editor, Christina Kelly, recently banned diet articles. This is really a huge step considering two million teenagers and pre-teens read the magazine. She also plans on putting more plus size models in the magazine as well as averaged size girls, in order to better relate to the readers.

Aside from that fact, this issue is definitely something that needs to be addressed. Teens need to realize that no one looks like the super skinny models that they idolize and are actually healthy. Or if these models are they work out four hours a day to keep their size. A lot of the articles I read simply stated that the focus needs to be shifted to encourage good health and not a smaller waist. Honestly, I couldn't agree more, instead of articles titled "Get a Bikini Body by Spring" there needs to be articles focused on eating healthy. Or something with any kind of substance that is better than what teen magazines are focusing on now.


A few websites I used were..
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/833/
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3027/context/archive