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Anorexia - Destroying The Future
By Alison (Grade 12) 
In a society where people desperately strive for more, be it money, fast cars, big houses or other material possessions, it is ironic that, when discussing a person's weight, less is more. It is remarkably clear that beauty has lost more than a few pounds in the last 40-50 years as former movie stars and sex symbols, such as Marilyn Monroe, would be considered chubby by today's standards. Modern life is congested with images of "perfect" figures, with the average model measuring 5'9.5" in height and weighing a scant 120 lbs. By stark contrast, the average woman measures only 5'4" in height and weighing 144 lbs. Looking at a model - legs merely sticks, merely holding up her bone-baring frame - it's appalling that these hollow cheeks have painted a new face for beauty. In the United States alone, eight million people have eating disorders and seven million of those people are women. Out of this group, half will die, and, of those who are fortunate enough to survive their ordeal, six percent will succumb to complications from the disorder. Using models as divine images of perfect health has served only to destroy self-esteem and to distort society's image of beauty. In doing so, this "fad" also inherently destroys the basis for our society of tomorrow - the youth.
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