Too Young To Diet?

With a study revealing that one in five primary school girls are on a diet, some people are saying that the anti-obesity campaign is backfiring.

16:47 30 March 2015

The Government Equalities Office has released official figures revealing that the body confidence of young girls deteriorates rapidly as they progress through school. It added that one in five primary school girls are on a diet and that their poor body image has been associated with low participation in sport. 

 

The research shows that 23per cent of girls aged 7-21 don’t participate in sports while 48per cent think that getting sweaty from taking part in sports in unfeminine. 

 

Equalities Minister Jo Swinson says: "We have got the advertising industry to think again about the types of images they show, about how much retouching is appropriate - working with retailers, guidance for teachers, national citizenship service, youth groups.

 

"We absolutely need to make sure that children have resilience to deal with the world around them. But we also need to look at the unrealistic imagery that's there."

 

There are also concern that aggressive anti-obesity campaigns increase pressure on young girls and lead to negative results.