To think that skinny celebrities do have a negative impact on women and girls?

[thatisnotcoffee]

How could they not? When you constantly have this ideal body type pushed in your face as the only right one and and when size 14 is considered to be overweight then how can that not effect you?

Dakota Fanning is considered to be a good role model for teenagers and young women but she's a stick! How can that be healthy? She's 21 and still has the body of a child.

I watched an interview with Amanda Holden recently and she's wasting away. I also looked up Gillian Anderson recently when I found out the X Files was coming back and I was shocked to see that she's also very thin. I was even more shocked when I looked at even older pictures of her from 10-20 years ago and I realised she was very skinny even back then. I just don't understand how being that thin can be healthy tbh.

This sort of shit just makes me feel like crap and that I must be a hippo at a size 16 even though that's the average size.

This thread is ridiculous.

If anything it's damaging to our children to see overweight bodies being so normalised. I'd rather my children grow up seeing slim as normal instead of fat being normal.

The fact that size 16 is pretty average is a big problem, it is much easier for most people to consume too many calories and do too little excercise than it is for most people to maintain a fit, slim body.

Gosh... nice to read that at a size 6/8, I don't make a good role model for my nieces, friend's daughters etc :-(

I sit right in the middle of the "normal" BMI zone for somebody who is 5'7" by the way, weighing around 9st12lbs. (Yes, BMI might be dated... but not so much so that an update would skew me into the underweight category).

I run, I go to the gym, I am passionate about food and cooking. These things might make me a good role model, but I actually hope that the kind of person I am, the achievements I've made and how hard I work should be taught to young girls as being more important values.

I think those who are at an unhealthy bmi as well as a fat percentage should accept that IT is a tad overweight, and unhealthy. It's not about appearance. You can be all shapes and sizes and still be visually beautiful!
But for health, wel being and longevity, being a healthy slim is best. Eat well, exercise some, drink plenty of fluids, limit toxis (alcohol, nicotine, narcotics)

If anything it's damaging to our children to see overweight bodies being so normalised. I'd rather my children grow up seeing slim as normal instead of fat being normal.

This 10000x.

This thread shows how warped people's perception of what normal and healthy is.

The weight that women are required to be to have a Hollywood career is unhealthy. Some are 'naturally' skinny. Most starve themselves and have to exercise excessively. There are plenty of celeb interviews that reveal this. It's no secret.

One person's 'starving yourself' is another person's 'eating healthily'. One person's 'excessive exercise' is another person's 'normal lifestyle'. Since it's usually overweight (sometimes hugely so) people throwing round the insults (starving, excessive) I think it's fairly obvious which people have warped perceptions and which people don't.

well where is GA interview revealing this Jackie?

and sorry,can you just add facts to that rather sweeping statement about the Hollywood career and weight requirement? or are you just,er,guessing?

We try to avoid "thin" and "fat" and don't speak about weight in front of DC's in our house and focus more on "happy" and "healthy". Lots of fresh air, as many activities as we can fit in etc. I am overweight despite really trying to lose weight. Certainly the last six months I have got much fitter although haven't actually lost weight.
Sadly my 6yo DS is very aware of weight despite being very thin (think buying super slim fitting jeans and then having to take them in). He is already worrying about being fat and I have no idea where he gets it from. I did think this week Amanda Holden looked very slender- looking forward to Holly being back but mostly because of the cackling that makes my teeth itch

happybubblebrain - your periods stopped when you were a size 8. That doesn't mean that sz8 is automatically unhealthy for anyone of your height or taller.

I am 5'7" and sz8, currently 8st 7lbs but vary between 8st 5lbs and 8st 9lbs depending on time of the month/year (heavier in winter and premenstrually). My menstrual cycle is fine, no problems with regularity.

But 'sizes' are deceptive, someone further down the thread (lynsay81) states that she is also 5'7" but weighs 1st 5lbs more than I do and yet is a size smaller/same size as me. Size is not necessarily representative of weight, you can be anywhere on a weight spectrum and still fit into the same clothing size, so a saying "size 8 is unhealthy" is daft.

I'm a 6-8 (in some shops even a 4). I've never had any problems with menstruation and I have 3 kids. I've been the same size (except during pregnancy) my entire adult life, I still have a few clothes from when I was 16. Size 8 would clearly be too small for someone who is very tall. For someone 5'2 or 5'3" it's not even that slim. It's just not.

Equally a 14 might not be overweight for someone who is very tall. For a 5'2" or 5'3" person though it would be huge.

squeezy- I will clarify that the size 6 is on top due to me having approximately the same cup size as an 8 year old boy. Hahaha!

But your point is very true, body shape defines what size you wear and obviously different shops are vary so we can't say a particular size is "unhealthy".

Mistresschalk I agree with you so I'm speaking up for lean women whose bones show and are perfectly healthy and are tired of being told we're too thin.. I like being a size 8. It's only larger women who say "there's nothing of you", "you need to build yourself up" or "go on another slice of cake will put some meat on you" or " how come your thighs don't touch? " Seriously it's not ok to be so rude to slim women. I don't do a body scan of big women and comment on their excess body weight I wouldn't be so discourteous.

Interesting hippo, but no. I was a 14 after DD was born. I was 11st. I've fed that into the NHS BMI calc and it comes out as 'normal range', upper range of normal, yes, at 24.1, but utterly within the 'safe range' at 5'7".

Sorry lindsay, I got your name wrong

Jackie I find it quite frightening as well. I think we need to be seeing a wider range of what is perceived as beautiful - girls like these as well as super slim ones. They are 'plus size' models but to my eyes, look incredibly healthy. It would be nice if we could all see different bodies types, some of which are similar to our own looking healthy, strong and beautiful. Then a particular celeb could be aspirational for the person with a corresponding body type, rather than trying to achieve something unnatural for them.

I'll say it again but you are likely to have the longest lifespan if you fall into a BMI range of 25-30 - arguably that makes it 'healthiest'. So for maximum 'health' you would eat well, exercise lots, minimise alcohol, not smoke and be 'overweight'. No one wants to hear that though because we have been brainwashed by the thin aesthetic.

The other aspect to having 'skinny' held up as aspirational is that it leads children to diet. Most people end up heavier two years after a diet than when they started (but with less muscle tissue, so a lower metabolism) and that cycle typically continues over years/decades for the majority. Also, one (of several) of the key things that will predispose someone to an eating disorder later in life is starting to diet in childhood. Mention 'eating disorder' and everyone thinks of anorexia and forgets that it can go the other way too, binge eating disorder for example, which is much more common and leads to weight gain. So IMO, dieting is actually a major contributor to the 'obesity crisis'. Health is about lifestyle, not weight. If you end up overweight because of an unhealthy lifestyle, look at how you make it healthier, not purely how to get back to 'healthy' BMI because if you do it just by starving yourself, you simply aren't going to be any healthier just by virtue of losing a stone or two.

Also, what we really need our kids to aspire to is achieving things rather than a dress size. Identify role models for that so that kids' self esteem rests on so much more than their body shape.

I'm 6'2 and a size 12-14. I weigh just under 13st and I am in no way skinny. Sorry, just because 16 is average it doesn't mean it's healthy. If I was a 16 I'd start looking a bit porky. Get a grip and stop vilifying women who are sensible and disciplined enough to keep themselves trim just to make yourself feel better. Put the pie down, eat less, do more.

I'm size 14 and 5'3" and know I am unhealthy, I am podgy and find exercise hard. I was 8st 10 lb 18 months ago and some stressful times at work have send me to the cookie jar for solace. The friends I have who embrace exercise and don't have my problems with food probably look a bit skinny, but I know they are more healthy than me.

Warped perceptions are rife I agree; but at both ends - Hollywood and High Street UK.

Agree PtolemysNeedle hundred percent

True needaholiday but skinny people - especially young ones - can have an equally bad diet and do no exercise too !

She's stinkersmum I agree!! I'm about your height and find the same

He is already worrying about being fat and I have no idea where he gets it from.

From the fat people around him?

Friends/family/teachers/doctors/nurses etc?

Kids are being taught what is and what isn't healthy at school. Therefore they're bound to worry that the people closest to them are not healthy, if they're overweight or obese.

In the same way that we tell children smoking isn't healthy. If they saw those closest to them lighting up every day, they'd be worried about that too.