Most Teens under 13 have dieted

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A British survey revealed that although only 19 percent of the teenage girls were overweight (as judged by the BMI scales which are low), 67 percent of them had already been on a diet, 19 percent had anorexia and/or bulimia and 90 percent of them did not like their bodies (said slimmer girls have more friends etc).

25 percent of the girls polled had considered drastic means to lose weight such as surgery or diet pills.  (This figure is probably higher now - they have "bulimia clubs" in Junior High Schools.  A Junior High School girl I know, is not only restricting her calories but does things like 200 push-ups a day etc.)

In other words, teens are starving themselves at a time when they need MORE vitamins because they are growing, when they are supposed to be being nourished, and this "despite the best efforts of health professionals", said the article.

But I am wondering what those "efforts" of Health Professionals are.  All we hear from medical providers is LOSE WEIGHT and how all illness is caused by "obesity" (which most people don't really suffer from - not if judged by a reasonable scale - and the BMI scale is only reasonable for small boned non muscular women about 5'2" tall). All we see on TV is about how many people are overweight, how overweight people are going to die in a couple of years. All we see in the movies are women who resemble concentration camp prisoners in girth. And we are surprised our kids are taking this literally? What part of "WE ARE TELLING THEM TO DO THIS" doesn't society understand?

I know several teens who started smoking to control their weight.  Even though they knew of the dangers.  We have convinced our young folks that being a bit fat is much worse than a habit which is a factor in 400,000 deaths a year, and 95 percent of Chronic Respiratory Disorder.

There are more young folks starting smoking NOW than in the 1960's before the dangers were known!

In Australia, Health care professionals are becoming alarmed - 3 out of 5 teens are UNDERWEIGHT!

I know a slim man who described a mild heart attack.  He is a runner but smokes and has a high stress job. But when he went to a respected specialty facility for heart problems, they put him on the treadmill and when he passed the test (not surprising for a man who runs regularly), they sent him home, and told him he must not have had a heart attack, even though what he had described was the classic "elephant on chest" heart attack.

No wonder so many men die of their first heart attack - one theory says that this is because it was NOT the first but earlier light heart attacks had been ignored. Well, with medical care like that? If the man had been obese, they would have taken him seriously.

All people suffer in such a society like this. The slim people are misled into thinking that because they are slim, they are healthy, thus allowing real medical problems to go untreated. This often causes people to justify doing something unhealthy to become slim and once slim, they sink in a state of complacency that this will protect them from health problems. And the obese are abused.

And then we wonder why our kids are starving themselves and hate their bodies because they cannot conform to air brushed models in magazines? They are doing EXACTLY what we are telling them to do!

Sources: various news sources