Today, teens are influenced in many ways by media. One of the most prevalent messages teens are getting from the media is about body image. It’s fair to say that if you are a girl, you have at one time or another found yourself flipping through pages of magazines and seen pretty, smiling faces of super-thin celebrities and models. It seems that the celebrity lifestyle of being rich and thin is glamorized by designer clothes, expensive cars and other luxuries. What a lot of teens don’t realize is that being ultra-thin does not equal happiness and can be harmful to your health and affect you in many negative ways.

Recently, the fashion industry lost Brazilian model Ana Carolina and Luisel Ramos who died as a result of eating disorders they relied upon to keep them thin. Ramos had a heart attack after surviving on only lettuce leaves and Diet Coke. Fashion designers have only recently made a stand on the issue and some have banned size zero models from walking the runways. Another new requirement the industry has instituted is that models must have a body mass index of no less than eighteen.

The average American woman stands 5’4”, weighs 140 lbs and wears size 12-14, while the average fashion model today is 5’11”, weighs 117 lbs and is thinner than ninety-eight percent of average women. “Sadly, we have ignored the impact made by their profession on children and young adults,” Lynn Grefe, CEO of NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) said to WebMD.

Teens need to draw the line between looking thin and being healthy. What is seen in the media is not reality. Only time will tell if we will one day realize being healthy is what truly matters not the size of one’s jeans.

What’s a healthy BMI?

Underweight: 18.5

Normal weight: 18.5- 24.9

Overweight: 25- 29.9

Obese: 30 or greater

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