“Teen_Marketing_and_Body_Image”_–_by__Mary_Desaulniers

The article starts with saying that you see them everywhere – in magazines, commercials featuring emaciated teen models with glossy lips and heavily mascara-ed eyes wearing barely more than a string bikini. Teen marketing tactics, such as that, have succeeded in making their point. 10-year-old girls have made the word “diet” part of their daily vocabulary and the La Senza part of their identity. Since the beginning of the 20th century, body image and weight control have occupied the mainstream culture, when film and media images created prototypes of ideal male and female bodies – men with body-builder muscles and women with slender waists and boyish hips, says that article. According to the article, it’s not surprising now that teenagers of both genders have distorted body images that often lead to unhealthy, life affecting behaviors. In a study of adolescent girls, results showed that 53% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This figure grows to 78% by the time the girls reach 17. In another study, the article states, of over 10,000 teens, researchers noted that a large proportion of boys are unhealthily preoccupied with body building. What is even more disturbing is the number of cosmetic procedures that have been performed on teens. The article says that programs such as “extreme makeovers” have given teenagers an unrealistic view of what constitutes “normal appearance.” Ironically, though, children’s eating habits have spiked, even in the midst of a cultural obsession with thinness. Recent statistics indicate that 14% of children are now seriously overweight and 60% of overweight children between the ages of 5 and 10 have shown at least 1 risk factor for heart disease. Given the mixed messages and signals North American teens are getting about their bodies and food, the article asks, what can parents and professionals do to help to rectify the situation' According to the article, first we need to challenge the teen marketing goal of thinness and foster a concept of fitness that goes beyond the parameters of weight. A fitness regimen that includes a wide variety of enjoyable activities such as dancing, yoga, pilates, and swimming would put the “fun” back into fitness rather than isolating exercise as a workout that must be endured for the “perfect body.” Secondly, the article says, we need to challenge the whole concept of weight loss and weight gain. LA psychologist, Keith Valone suggests that the real issue isn’t about weight but body composition. And by taking the focus away from body weight to body composition, we can perhaps promote a better understanding of what it means to be healthy and fit. Thirdly, we need to provide role models for teens that go beyond body consciousness, says the article. We need to provide media images of strong, empowered men and women who eat well, exercise regularly and who are more concerned with living their life than following the market’s narrow conceptions of beauty. Fourthly, we need to lobby for more responsible and ethical teen marketing, states the article.