and the availability of high-calorie,cheap fast food in many countries make it easy for poorer people to add inches to their waistlines.
Fashion also affects our ideas of what an ideal appearance is.
In recent investigations, men and women were shown pictures of woman and asked to rate them in terms of attractiveness.
Women in the study rated pictures of thinner women as more attractive.
This shows the power of advertising in fashion.
Female models are usually much thinner than the average female.
We all want to be attractive, but there are negative con sequences to the pursuit of beauty as defined by the fashion industry.
One is eating disorders. People with an eating disorder often think that they are fat when really they are not fat at all.
This leads them to dangerously limit the amount of food they eat.
Eating disorders since the 1960s. They are common among women; young women aged between 15 and 19 make up 40 percent of new cases in the US. By comparison, they are rare among men. These disorders have the highest rate of death of any mental illness.
The fashion and advertising industries are obviously to blame, Clothes are designed for and worn by thin models, who are themselves often victims of eating disorders. To boost sales, companies flood the market with fattening junk foods .
At the same time, advertisers promote slimness as the ideal of beauty. It is truly time to end this unhealthy situation.