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Report on Body Beautiful
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
Issues surrounding body image are a fairly common concern. This is reflected in the fact that a whopping 988 people took our survey on the subject. Of these, there were 960 females, 13 males, and 15 others who didn't answer the question about their gender. Showing that such concerns are not limited to a particular group, we received responses from people of all ages, ethnicities, and nationalities.
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Billions upon billions of dollars are spent every year by people trying to alter their appearance by buying exercise equipment, signing up for fitness classes, undergoing surgery, or through the variety of other means now available. When we asked how satisfied you are with your bodies, we found that there were about equal numbers at each extreme. 88 people strongly agreed and 78 strongly disagreed with the statement: "I am satisfied with my body". The majority of respondents, however, fell into the category of neutral. Encouragingly, the number of those satisfied with their bodies (290) outweighs the number of dissatisfied people (182).
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| I am satisfied with my body |
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It's generally accepted that we're more influenced by the media that surrounds us than we know. Whether it's in movies, television shows, magazines, or ads, most of the people we see are skinnier than the norm. This can lead to the creation of unrealistic standards. The results to our questions on the subject show the variety of responses to such influences.
How often do you compare your body to celebrities' bodies?
~Never: 252
~Once in a while: 232
~Sometimes: 204
~Most of the time: 129
~All of the time: 146
I aspire to look like the models I see in fashion magazines or on television.
~Strongly agree: 112
~Agree: 231
~Not sure: 200
~Disagree: 202
~Strongly disagree: 186
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While the media plays an important role, parents and peers have a more direct influence on us. It can be incredibly hurtful when someone we care about or whose opinion we value says something negative about our appearance. I remember when a friend called me fat. I was upset about it for weeks. When I finally confronted him about it, I was shocked to realize that he didn't even remember the incident. He had probably forgotten about making the comment that had been echoing in my head for days soon after he said it. I have to admit that although he apologized, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to completely forgive him.
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| How often do your parents recommend that you change your physical appearance? |
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How many times in the past month has a parent or guardian commented on the amount of food you eat?
~Never: 312
~1-3 times: 345
~4-6 times: 129
~7-9 times: 68
~10 or more times: 115
How often do your friends recommend that you change your physical appearance?
~Never: 686
~1-2 times: 156
~3-4 times: 48
~5-6 times: 14
~7-8 times: 8
~9 or more times: 28
How often does your significant other recommend that you change your physical appearance?
~Never: 464
~1-2 times: 70
~3-4 times: 32
~5-6 times: 11
~7-8 times: 4
~9 or more times: 15
~I don't have a significant other: 340
How often do you compare your body to your friends' or peers' bodies?
~Never: 123
~Once in a while: 219
~Sometimes: 258
~Most of the time: 191
~All of the time: 171
How many of your friends complain regularly about their bodies?
~None: 147
~A few: 411
~Some: 188
~Most: 141
~All: 53
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The temptation to compare ourselves to others is hard to resist, so we asked you how often you compared your body to your friends' or peers' bodies. 123 of you never have. 219 only do it once in a while. 258 others do it sometimes. 191 people do it most of the time and 171 do it all of the time.
Which of the following behaviors have you engaged in?
~Not eating for long periods of time: 213
~Exercising for more than two hours in a single day: 223
~Making yourself vomit after eating: 76
~Eating thousands of calories in a single sitting: 156
~Taking pills that claim to control weight: 61
~None of the above: 499
SmartGirl's purpose is not to preach, but instead to give you a place to share your thoughts. It's hard for us to stay quiet, however, when we get results like those above. So if you're concerned about your weight, please consider talking to your parents, a doctor, or a counselor instead of trying one of the unhealthy methods listed above.
If I were to try and improve how I look and feel, I would...
Some of the responses to this question didn't fit into the categories below, but were interesting enough that we wanted to share them:
~"Not wear a bathing suit"
~"Lick stamps"
~"Compare myself to those who I consider not as good as I am"
~"Scream and shout yes yes yes"
~"Wear better clothes"
~"Ayurveda"
~"I'm fighting bulimia" (Good luck, sweetie!)
Here are the responses broken down by category:
~Exercise more: 773
~Eat healthy food: 712
~Change my diet by eating less: 336
~Go on a serious diet: 159
~Watch my favorite movie: 112
~Talk to a therapist/friend/family: 98
~Do nothing: 66
~Eat a lot of my favorite food: 61
~Other: 29
~Eat more: 8
~Change my attitude: 4
~Do something fun or relaxing: 4
~Get surgery: 3
Here are the results to the questions we asked to gauge your beliefs about body image:
How many times, on average, do you think negative thoughts about your body during the day?
~Zero: 148
~1-3: 454
~4-6: 160
~7-9: 83
~10 or more: 100
Guys like girls who are overweight.
~Strongly agree: 15
~Agree: 42
~Not sure: 294
~Disagree: 298
~Strongly disagree: 297
I think I look fat.
~Always: 154
~Most of the time: 164
~Some of the time: 371
~Never: 266
How much do you agree with the following statement: "I am unhappy with my body because I would like to be thinner."
~Strongly agree: 226
~Agree: 211
~Neutral: 168
~Disagree: 147
~Strongly disagree: 203
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| Being thin is more important to me than doing well in school. |
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When you go shopping, do you ever get upset because clothes don't fit you?
~Never: 262
~Sometimes: 398
~Most of the time: 130
~Always: 155
Do you have any clothes that are too small but you keep them anyway hoping some day you will fit into them?
~Yes: 397 (I do this, too!)
~No: 549
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| I would give up five years of my life to have the perfect body. |
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With the appearance of reality shows like Extreme Makeover and The Swan, it seems like plastic surgery is more common than ever before. An interesting trend in recent years is the steady increase in the number of men undergoing such procedures. Despite its growing popularity, it seems that most of you don't know anyone who has had plastic surgery. Or maybe you do, but just haven't spotted it. Hmm...
How many people do you know personally who have had plastic surgery to change the way they look?
~Zero: 634
~One - two: 240
~Three - four: 36
~Five - six: 7
~Seven or more: 20
What is your opinion on plastic surgery?
~I think it's wrong because people should be happy with themselves: 299
~I think it's wrong because it's too expensive and unsafe: 148
~I think it's a good thing if it makes people feel better about themselves: 190
~It's okay with me if others have done it but I wouldn't do it myself: 307
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Body image is such a big issue that we couldn't cover every aspect of it in a survey, but we did include some questions that touch on related topics. For example, the way a society's ideal body type differs from culture to culture and also how it changes over time in the same culture are popular subjects of study. That's why we asked how much you agreed with the statement "African Americans appreciate different body types than members of other ethnic groups (Caucasian, Asian, etc)." The vast majority of you (565), however, answered that you weren't sure. 151 others agreed, 84 strongly agreed, 77 disagreed, and 78 strongly disagreed.
Involvement in sports positively affects a person's body image.
~Strongly agree: 277
~Agree: 383
~Not sure: 231
~Disagree: 42
~Strongly disagree: 29
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Atkins, South Beach, low fat, low carb, low calorie, and so on. It seems like a new diet craze pops up every time you turn around. Since I don't have the will power to stay on any diet (except for the yummy but disappointingly ineffective all chocolate one I tried a few years ago), I generally don't pay attention to the latest trends. Based on the results to the question below, it looks as though many of you are similarly uninterested.
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| How often are you on a diet? |
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The results to our question about fasting were more disturbing. When we asked how much you agreed with the statement "I have tried not eating in order to lose weight", 120 of you strongly agreed, 205 agreed, 75 weren't sure, 164 disagreed, and 391 strongly disagreed. I've certainly felt the pressure to lose x number of pounds in time for a big event, but not eating is not the solution. Especially if you do it on a regular basis, it can have a negative impact on your long term health. Please don't do it!
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| I find myself eating when I am... |
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count | percent |
wheneat
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| hungry |
765 | 35.03 |
| bored |
572 | 26.19 |
| sad |
283 | 12.96 |
| lonely |
226 | 10.35 |
| annoyed |
114 | 5.22 |
| mad |
137 | 6.27 |
| anxious |
8 | 0.37 |
| pms |
1 | 0.05 |
| scared |
3 | 0.14 |
| alltime |
9 | 0.41 |
| happy |
6 | 0.27 |
| tv |
3 | 0.14 |
| tired |
3 | 0.14 |
| withothers |
4 | 0.18 |
| whenever |
10 | 0.46 |
| craving |
3 | 0.14 |
| forced |
3 | 0.14 |
| other |
34 | 1.56 |
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There were lots of thoughtful and well-written answers to this question and I'm sorry that we can't share all of them. Here's a sampling of the responses:
~"To never eat and to exercise so much that you are always tired and you don't have any time to sleep."
~"Not eating regular meals or throwing up your food. It's just so gross and not healthy. If you want to lose weight, eat better foods and exercise! It won't kill you to sweat a little!"
~"Not eating at all and throwing up after you do eat. That is just crazy. I like food too much for that so I can't really relate to the people who do it although I do know people who have!"
~"Not eating enough to sustain a healthy way of life; eating more than necessary on a regular basis; not eating enough and then binging; eating unhealthy food to sustain oneself; eating (especially binging) and then forcing oneself to vomit."
~"People who stop eating and who exercise constantly. People who binge and also those who make themselves throw up or take laxatives. Also, I believe a person has an eating problem when they are obsessed with the calories they consume and make sure others around them eat more than they do."
~"I think starving yourself, over-exercising and vomiting up your food are all unhealthy, but you don't necessarily have an eating disorder if you do these things. I think whether you have an eating disorder or not is determined by whether you can stop these activities or not and how difficult it is. I also think that someone can't stop doing these things or recover from an eating disorder unless they want to. There's no point starting to eat again and giving up vomiting if you still obsess about your body and feel crap about yourself when you look in the mirror because you are only going to start starving yourself again sooner or later."
~"Constantly eating crisps/chocolate/sweets, never bothering about a healthy diet, and not eating fruit and vegetables. I think that it's mainly the parents/guardians' fault as to what a person eats because they could spoil their child and let them eat fatty/unhealthy foods all of the time and not even bother about a sensible diet. Also, if there aren't sensible foods in the house, then you have no choice, do you? Maybe if parents/guardians didn't buy so many unhealthy foods, then their children wouldn't eat them because they wouldn't be there to eat. Something should be done--and fast!!!"
~"Not eating, purging, starvation, and over-eating (which I happen to do quite often, but luckily I eat healthy foods and work out often as well)."
~"Making yourself sick on purpose
Stopping eating or eating too little for the amount of exercise you do
Not eating breakfast
Eating more calories than you burn (unless you need to put on weight)
Eating for comfort (e.g. when something awful occurs)
Only eating junk food
Not drinking enough
People need to have a balanced diet. It's soooooooo important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~"Not eating when you are hungry, stop eating when you are not full, making yourself vomit after meals or whenever, starving yourself, etc. (My teachers question my eating habits, a lot, but I do just fine. I am completely satisfied with my body, and I eat as much as I should. I just look very thin because I do dance a lot. I'm in ballet. I'm not fat or too skinny. I'm perfect! : ) )"
~"I think that not eating or eating too much is very unhealthy. We should try to find a balance of eating and exercise without overdoing it."
~"Anything that is having an unhealthy effect on your body or is something you do that is unreasonable but you still do it."
~"I think that eating the same unhealthy thing day in day out is wrong, and also eating stuff that is loaded with fat when you are not doing any exercise to combat it. On the other hand, I think that anorexia and bulimia are both really wrong, because a lot of the time the person is incredibly skinny anyway, and should be putting on a bit of weight instead of endangering their lives. I believe the motto that everyone should follow when it comes to eating and health is 'everything in moderation'."
~"Not eating at all
Eating too much, or taking what is not needed
Over-exercising
Being as skinny as a stick and wanting to diet to get thinner
Throwing up on purpose
Not getting enough to eat
Just drinking Slim Fast doesn't even seem healthy to me. Or just taking weight loss stuff without eating"
~"Eating junk food like crazy (after a boy dumps you or you fail a test), vomiting after eating so you don't pack on the pounds (yuck!), anorexia, and taking pills. All are very uncool, not smart and gross!"
~"Unhealthy eating = eating too much junk food or an excess of one thing
Eating disorder = bulimia, anorexia"
~"I think that eating nothing is horrible. I think that eating too much is horrible, too. I think that making yourself throw up after every meal is not healthy and should not be done by anyone, no matter how overweight they may be. I think that eating fruit is a good, healthy choice, but eating too much is again, not good. Everyone has to have at least one or more items of each food group (from the food pyramid) every day. Otherwise, it is not healthy. People with eating disorders should seek help. A therapist or a diet specialist would work. BUT, if it is not a serious issue (something like bulimia or anorexia would be considered serious) then for now, I would suggest talking to an adult or friend that you can trust."
~"I think that starving yourself, making yourself vomit after meals, or taking pills just to be skinny is just bad. People shouldn't do that to their bodies. I think the first step is just accepting who you are and go on from there."
~"When you don't eat at all or when you eat so much and then try everything (even vomiting) to get rid of it. Overall, being extremely unhappy with your body and taking drastic measures to fix it."
~"I think unhealthy eating practices include not eating, worrying about everything you eat, counting calories/counting carbs, exercising excessively, and constantly worrying about your weight."
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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
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