Every January, millions of Americans create one goal for themselves to to achieve in the new year: to lose weight. The American standard of beauty evolves tall and lean individuals and although it’s nearly impossible to choose your desired height, it is a choice to choose your desired weight. A choice many Americans attempt to try.With the obesity rate in the nation rising, many health officials are concerned about the well-being of many Americans. According to the FDA, obesity has quickly risen to become one of the causing factors of fatality in Americans due to poor diet; which contributes to the diagnosis of a numerous diseases including heart disease, cancer and kidney failure.
According to the American Obesity Association (AOA) nearly 34 percent of adults are obese, more than double the percentage 30 years ago. The number of obese children has increased also, to 17 percent and is the highest in the nation’s history.
Now that more Americans are aware of their poor diet choices and high-caloric foods (due to the government PSAs and advertisements advocating healthy diets) more and more are looking into extreme dieting as an alternative to fit in society standards. In a poll conducted by the American Psychology Association (APA) in March, 41% of their new patients were diagnosed with depression because of poor self-esteem. The irony of it all is that, psychologists also discovered that the depression is a result of the patients weight loss and not weight gain.
The pressure to remain thin is a tough one, just ask Franchesa Marino, 21, a student at Boston College. Besides studying sociology, she is active on the school’s division I volleyball and softball teams, and having recently lost a significant amount of weight she feels the pressure of being thin. “Honestly, I was happier when I was overweight because I didn’t have to live up to the standards of being thin, I get my weight checked on a weekly basis because of sport requirements.” She says. “It’s strange, I think I deprive myself so much that having so many limitations on what I can eat is making me miserable.”
With obesity rates still on the rise, as well as low self esteem, is it really better to be thin? Last November, British supermodel Kate Moss caused controversy worldwide when she said “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” in a an article for Women’s Wear Daily. The quote garnered tons of attention because it came just weeks after fashion officials in Paris, announced their decision to use models that weighed at least 115 pounds. At 5’6 and 105-pounds, Moss was accused of glorifying a view of beauty in the fashion industry that contradicts the typical lifestyle of the average person.
Inger Hustrulid, 30, a registered dietitian and nutritionist at Foundations Family Nutrition in Massachusetts, believes many Americans are happiest when overweight because they don’t deprive themselves of comfort foods. “When your dieting you’re constantly thinking about food because you’re always hungry, whereas when you’re overweight eating isn’t constantly running through your mind” she says. “People are happier because they eat the foods they want and don’t feel guilty about it. Thinner people try to maintain their figures so if they do occasionally slip on their diets, they feel guilty, overeat and become angry at themselves about it.”
Negative body image plays a huge factor in obesity, especially among adolescents, according to Chris Godfrey, a psychology professor at Pace University. “There’s absolutely no win in being overweight or thin. If overweight, you’re at a health risk and if thin you’re a greater risk of developing low self-image because you’ll never find satisfaction because you compare yourself too often with other people.
The physical appearance doesn’t coincide with the interior body appearance for a lot of individuals. With Hollywood A-Listers such as Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff and Beyonce embracing curvaceous figures, the definition of beauty in America is slightly changing. Simpson, Duff and Beyonce have each lost a significant amount of weight in the past (Simpson for Dukes of Hazard, Duff for an album Dignity and Beyonce for Dreamgirls) and each publicly opened up about the grueling process of losing the weight and not feeling good about themselves.
Jessica Simpson has seen it the worst as she was photographed during a concert appearance last year with a more plump figure. She was ridiculed by the media, but confessed that she is a lot happier now then she was in her thinner days and is more comfortable in her own skin. She even has adopted a new philosophy “eat whatever makes you feel good.”
Socialite Kim Kardashian is also known for her curves as well as Jennifer Lopez. Kardashian however, endorses a product with GNC called QuikTrim which is a 14-day cleanse intended for those in desire to lose weight. Kardashian has gotten quite a bit of criticism for her endorsement deal for QuikTrim because she along with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney advocated positive self-esteem amongst young females and endorsing a quick-solution weight loss product contradicts all the positivity they implied they had for their curvaceous figures.
Then there’s model Lizzie Miller, who garnered tons of attention last fall when she posed nude for a Glamour magazine editorial. Thousands of models have posed nude for magazines for years and even Glamour magazine has had their fair share of naked models, but there is one exemption that sets Lizzie Miller from the rest: she’s a plus size model. Miller, 20 who wears a size-12 (size-8 and above is considered plus-sized) admitted in the magazine that she is comfortable in her skin, whereas a few years ago, she was uncomfortable in her own skin. A few years ago she was a size-4 catalog model.
Miller believed that her poor self-image was due to the fact that she was never accepted in the modeling world. Where a standard size is two, Miller was a four, where most models were 100-pounds, Miller was 110-pounds. Although the differences are uncanny and small, the effect of an extra ten pounds can do a lot to a person self-esteem. Miller says “I constantly struggled to be the same size as the other models, it drove me insane.” “Now that I’m considered a plus-size, I’ve accepted myself. I don’t care about how my weight compares to others because I’m happy and healthy and that all that really matters.”
The APA believes that women, who aren’t overweight are more pressured to maintain a healthy weight than the women who are. In the same study which concluded that 41% of new patients suffered depression courtesy of weight loss; it was also discovered that 29 of that 41-percent think that weight gain is more noticeable on thinner individuals. They believe that if thin people put on weight, they are often ridiculed about it, then if an overweight person gains a couple of pounds. Americans who have recently lost a fair amount of weight, are often pressured as well to maintain their new slim figures; and become prone to mental and eating disorders such as manic depression and binge eating.
Renee Whitten, a 48 year old secretary at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston struggled with her weight since she was a teenager. Last summer she decided to test the odds and get gastric bypass surgery. By January she was already down 80 pounds. Although she is no longer classified as overweight, Robinson was happier in her own skin. “I had a negative body image and I thought that losing weight would change that,” she says. “I actually regret losing so much weight. I can no longer eat the foods I love and my stomach hurts even if I try to.”
Although it’s quite obvious that negative body image leads to low self-esteem, it’s not so obvious that the many individuals who experience low self-esteem are people who are considered thin by society’s standards. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a statistical measure used by the World Health Organization to determine a person’s body weight. In the United States a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 kilometers is considered in the healthy range and any BMI over 25 km is classified as obese and is at risk for heart diseases and diabetes.
A five-foot-three woman who weighs one hundred and forty-five pounds is considered overweight because she has a BMI of 25.7 km. A five-foot-seven women who weights one hundred and forty-five pounds is considered a healthy weight, with a BMI of only 22.7 km. Although both women weigh exactly the same, the five-foot-three woman is classified as overweight in health standards, where the five-foot-seven woman is considered healthy and at normal weight.
Inger Hustrulid believes that figuring out BMI can negatively affect a person’s self-esteem because what is considered obese in health standards can be acceptable in beauty standards, which is obviously contradictory. “If someone is unaware of the fact that they’re overweight, they have a higher chance at becoming obese and an even higher risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.” She says, “BMI, only measures the ratio of body fat based on the height and weight of a person; so people who seem thin can have a relatively high BMI, which has a few negative factors. One is that they’re unaware of their potential risk of obesity, and the other is that once they find out their BMI percentage they can develop a series of depression and self-hatred. if they’re not happy with the results.”
Happiness is based on self-love an individual has for his or herself. If a three hundred pound man is satisfied with his appearance then society should accept it as they would with one and sixty pound man. Being “skinny” isn’t desirable if millions of Americans are depressed over their appearance. Chris Godfrey thinks that it’s a combination of the mental and physical health, that make up a healthy individual. “Being extremely thin or extremely obese doesn’t have a positive effect on the individual or the society around them. He says. “Accepting yourself and following proper diet is probably the best solution in solving the depression-weight fiasco.”
The AOA is on the same note as Godfrey. In the past year, the association has been advocating for physical health more than usual (with the rise of obesity rates) and their efforts are proving to be successful making an affect on Washington D.C. First Lady Michelle Obama has been concerned with childhood obesity and is taking steps to overturn the nation’s obesity rates in adolescents. President Obama and the U.S. House of Representatives have also joined the AOA’s efforts in eliminating American obesity by passing and signing a healthcare reform bill in March. The bill provides health insurance for all Americans (which include mental health services) and caloric guidelines for chain-restaurants and fast food places across the country.
Hustrulid is a bit more keen to push Americans into starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle which includes a proper diet, regular exercise and possibly meditation. “Self-satisfaction often starts with the physical appearance. Americans need to change their eating habits and develop effective exercise habits.” She says. “From there, positive self-esteem comes in, since exercise has proven to have positive mental effects on individuals.”
Weight measurements on a bathroom scale shouldn’t make a huge impact on the lives of Americans as it does. With near perfect physiques on movie stars, models and athletes it’s evident that low self-esteem can be caused by a desire to look like your favorite actor, athlete or musician. Just like the average American, these individuals face the same weight debacles, and probably worse since they work in competitive environments and are surrounded with tons of enablers, money and accessibility to cosmetic surgeons, nutritionists and personal trainers. If being thin is about extreme dieting and constant unhappiness than the increase in American obesity is starting to make a hell of a lot more sense.
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