Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance
Written by Stella Georghiou
I sit at my desk miserably staring down at my once flat stomach that, now due to my lazy junk food eating lifestyle has more spare tyres than my local garage. I constantly tell myself that I will go to the gym tomorrow and cut out the crappy food but that day never comes. I decide that I like myself with a bit of a jelly belly over hang and men can basically like it or lump it. With celebs however and now worryingly more and more everyday women and teenage girls each day, weight is no longer a problem but an obsession that has took over their lives. Over the past five years size number zero has become increasingly popular in celebrities, women and more so teenagers. Is it the celebrity’s skinny frames, toned stomachs and nonexistence waist lines that are putting the female population under pressure to slim down? In a recent television program called ‘The truth about size zero’ Louise Redknapp under went an experiment in which she lived life as a size zero woman would for thirty days. She commented how the women were living on as little as 200 -300 calories a day (a women’s daily calorie intake should be 2000) She explained how she struggled to keep within this absurd limit and was constantly tired. The experiment carried out by Louise Redknapp was done with good intentions, with the aim of discouraging girls to slim so much and so fast. But fears are that the program has done more harm than good and has encouraged girls to slim down and show them how quickly it can actually be done. On one internet website a girl posted a video about how she was a size ten and was going to slim to a size eight after watching ‘The truth about size zero’ and being influenced by the speed in which Louise lost so much weight.Jamie Redknapp, Louise Redknapp’s husband commented how he noticed that Louise became sharp and snappy whilst on the size zero diet. He also stated ‘No man likes a skinny girl, I like Louise’s curves. Surely this should be a positive inspiration to women and teenagers. At the beginning of her experiment Louise Redknapp started at seven stone ten pounds with a BMI of nineteen point four and dropped to a dangerous six stone thirteen pounds with a BMI of seventeen point six, loosing a total of eleven pounds in 30 days and after fifty two hours of exercise in that time. A BMI of eighteen is considered dangerous, and is border lining anorexia. During the diet Louise also complained of stomach cramps, flaky skin and black circles under her eyes. This unpleasant experience for Louise aimed to help young girls and women and show them the dangers of crash dieting.
The media is bursting full of celebrities who ‘think thin.’ Magazines, films and music videos are constantly presenting super slim celebs with desirable figures. This is bound to cause an impact on the lives of teenager’s especially, who become obsessed with their figures. Teenagers are especially vulnerable as they are left open to peer pressure and are at a vital stage where they can be easily influenced.
Five years ago size zero was unheard of today it is becoming progressively more accepted. With stores such as Asda, Topshop and H&M stocking clothes to fit a petite size four (U.S Size zero). and the size zero craze taking over the nation many doctors are concerned for their patient’s health. Doctors state that crash dieting can cause bad breath, coughs and colds and sleep disturbances. They also commented that not only does crash dieting affect the muscles in your arms and legs but the heart muscles too, making people who suffer from anorexia more vulnerable to heart attacks. To some, size zero might look great and make them feel good about themselves but are they aware of what it is really doing to their organs and body functions? This was the message Louise Redknapp was trying to get across to female’s with her televised experiment but it has been argued that the message put across was ignored and made the size zero craze even more fashionable.
The big question is who or what is to blame? Well for my baker’s rolls I blame my own stupid self for drinking and eating calorific items but I’m happy so I don’t care. But I believe where size zero people are concerned there are many blames. In a recent interview Melanie C. from the spice girls talked about how she suffered from anorexia whilst in the band and stated ‘Having an eating disorder is the most miserable existence you can have.’ She went on to describe how she would constantly avoid social situations in which she would have to eat with people. Whilst Melanie went through this tough stage in her life the media torn her to pieces for being under weight, shockingly as Melanie recovered and her illness went into reverse once again the media made negative comments. ‘At my heaviest I was a size fourteen’ states Melanie it was at this point the media labeled her fat. With the media contradicting themselves young girls are going to get confused of what is desirable in society and therefore lead to major problems, such as eating disorders. With the media sending out two completely different messages this is going to have an impact on teenage girls especially wondering how they should look and worrying if they do gain weight they will nastily be labeled fat.
Terrifyingly girl’s as young as twelve are suffering from eating disorders. A twelve year old girl recovering from anorexia in ‘Rhodes Farm’ stated how she got to the stage where she was scared to even drink a glass of water incase she gained weight from it. This does make you wonder what message society portrays if girls that young are concerned about their weight.
Last year two super models Louis Thramos and Anna Carolina Testen died as a result of eating disorders, despite these tragedies skinny is still portrayed as beautiful. Does this mean that the catwalk is to blame for many women and girls suffering from eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia? One size eight model explains how she was constantly being told by modeling agencies that she was too fat to be a catwalk model. The message that this sends out is not a good one! One fourteen year old girl slimmed down to a dangerous four stone and ate nothing but one boiled sweet a day in order to achieve the figure of a catwalk model.
Denise Van Outen sends out a positive message, she states how she was told by her agent at a healthy size ten that she was too fat for Hollywood and would have to slim down to a size zero because of competition such a Nicole Ritchie. She was told that it was the fashion in L.A to be that thin. Denise replied that she would not put herself through that and likes her food too much, she would much rather be happy and healthy.
Whilst people are trying to send out the warnings and risks of size zero, there is the opposite message being sent out causing contradictions and confusion. On a website that I looked at recently I noticed a video about size zero which sent out the message that the smaller you are the better you are for the environment. The video stated that a ‘non size zero woman is ten times bigger than a size zero woman, therefore using ten times more material for clothes.’ They continued to comment how this was putting ‘unnecessary strains on natural resources.’ Their solution was to make ‘size zero clothes fashionable’ so none size zero women desired them I did anything they could to fit into them then it will reduce the material on planet’s resources. This could be another influence for people to become size zero but I doubt it has a major effect as it does seem quite ludicrous to ask people to make themselves ill for the sake of the environment.
Whether it’s the catwalk or environmentalists that we have to blame for the size zero craze, it’s getting dangerously out of hand as more and more young girls and starving themselves for the sake of what they believe is an attractive healthy figure. Something has to be done to stop this life threatening fashion, but the question is what?