A decrease in skeletal-looking models, actresses, singers, etc in the media would ultimately lead to a decrease in the amount of teenage girls and young adults who develop eating disorders because there is an almost glorification of anorexic public figures, that has ultimately changed the standard of beauty. When young girls see image after image of ultra-thin models and actresses, many look at them selves and think, "Oh my God, I look hideous compared to her. I need to be thinner, so I can be beautiful like her." This definitely causes a lack of self-esteem in many girls. So many girls, in attempt to feel better about themselves, set out on a journey to try to achieve the image of beauty that has been portrayed to them. Some girls do it the "right way" (by dieting and exercising sensibly) but some get carried away by the tides of the ocean of perfection. This is how many eating disorders start; a girl wanting to be beautiful, that is conform to the standard of beauty that has been set for them.
One may ask, what exactly is an "eating disorder?" As the Merriam-Webster dictionary states it an eating disorder is "any of several psychological disorders characterized by serious disturbances of eating behavior." There are two main types of eating disorders- Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia, the most common, was previously defined as "severe loss of appetite." Although this is a literal translation from the Latin that it stems.
from, it is not accurate. Today, it is defined as "a serious disorder in eating behavior primarily of young women in their teens and early twenties that is characterized especially by a pathological fear of weight gain leading to faulty eating patterns, malnutrition, and usually excessive weight loss." Some signs of anorexia include constant concern about weight, continual loss of weight even though others may say the girl is too thin, extreme dieting to a point of malnutrition, excessive exercise.
