Unhealthy teen diets influenced by skinny stars

Irish teenage girls are living on unhealthy diets in a quest to have the looks of skinny international pop divas, it has been claimed.

Some, who are restricting themselves to low fat foods as part of their obsession to have the same type of figure as the likes of Victoria Beckham, are as young as 12, according to the University of Ulster survey.

Cultural pressures from the media and fashion industry, which dictate that thinness equals feminine beauty, lead many girls to become concerned with their body image, a senior lecturer said.

Dr Chris Strugnell said of the survey of 14-16 year old girls in the Republic: “Dissatisfaction with body image is associated with restrained eating and dieting practices, which can lead to nutritional inadequacies and negative psychological states.”

“The media and fashion industry have an influencing role with their promotion of ultra slim role models. A cause for concern is the ambiguity between definitions of dieting and healthy living,” he added.

A top Dublin modelling agency however, has denied claims that the fashion industry is to blame.

Margaret Humphries, owner of Assets Model Agency, which represents Miss World, Rosanna Davidson, said it wasn’t fair that models or celebrities were seen as responsible for young girls’ concerns about their body image.

“Some models are just very thin, they lead very active lives and do miss meals but they cannot be blamed if these kids go down the same route,” said Ms Humphries.

“It’s the way fashion is. Go into any High Street store and you’ll see short skirts and tops. You just have to be thin to fit into them.

“Most of our girls are a size 10-12. We do have some girls who are a good size 12 and that’s just the way they are. A big-boned girl can’t be anything else unless she starves herself to death and we certainly wouldn’t advocate that,” she added.

“We do encourage the girls to eat healthily and go to the gym but most of our models eat like pigs.”