16 May 2010

Cosmetic Surgery and Young Girls


GONE are the days when girls begged their parents for a pony. Today's youngsters are more likely to ask for some plastic surgery. One in ten girls in their early teens has argued with their parents over wanting cosmetic surgery, new research claims.

Others fall out over wanting to look like ultra-thin celebrities - a trend dubbed 'thinspiration' because of skinny role models such as Posh Spice and Lindsay Lohan.

The Dove survey - of 1,000 girls aged from 12 to 14 and 1,000 mothers of girls that age - revealed young teens are already worried about their body shape.

And many feel unable to discuss these issues with their parents, with nearly two-thirds claiming to hide their views on appearance from their mothers.

When they do talk about it, the conversation soon turns into an argument, with ten percent of girls claiming to have rowed with their mothers about wanting plastic surgery. A further ten percent say they have fallen out with mum over wanting to look like a celebrity.

More than a quarter have disagreed about dieting issues. Although 98 percent of mothers believe it is important to talk openly about health and body issues, many say they find it easier to discuss boyfriends, drugs and sex.

Experts recognise dieting is a difficult topic. Parents do not want their children to eat too much junk food and risk obesity, yet neither do they want to risk provoking the development of an eating disorder because of pressure to stay thin.

Leading psychotherapist Dr Susie Orbach said: 'In today's image-obsessed society, girls have a very different attitude to their body than their mothers did when they were growing up.'

'It's hard for mums to understand the enormity of the cultural shift that has taken place where girls grow up under inordinate pressure to be "perfect".'

Article taken from website Anybody http://anybody.squarespace.com/anybody_vent/2006/8/13/mum-please-can-i-have-some-botox.html

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