One out of three women and one out of four men are on a diet at any given time.
35% of occasional dieters progress into pathological dieting.
Two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their weight goals.
Diet and diet related products are a 33 billion dollar a year industry.
In 1970 the average age a girl started dieting was 14; by 1990 the average age dropped to 8.
One half of 4th grade girls are on a diet.
81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat.
51% of nine and ten-year-old girls stated they felt better about themselves when they were adhering to a diet.
While only one out of ten high school girls are overweight, nine out of ten high school juniors and seniors diet.
79% of teenage girls who vomit and 73% of teenage girls who use diet pills are frequent readers of women’s health and fitness magazines. This is in contrast to less than 43% of teenage girls who do not participate in these purging methods.
Following the introduction of Western television in Fiji, there was a surge in the rate of eating disorders.
One out of every four television commercials sends out some sort of message about attractiveness.
80% of women who answered a People magazine survey responded that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure.
Actresses Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz and singer Diana Ross all meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
Model/Actress Elizabeth Hurley stated in Allure Magazine, "I've always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I'd kill myself if I was that fat."
Pamela Anderson is 5'7" and weights 120 pounds. She is supposed to be the voluptuous ideal yet she is 11% below ideal body weight.
In contrast, a generation ago Marilyn Monroe set the beauty standard at 5'5" and weighed 135 pounds.
In one study, three out of four women stated that they were overweight although only one out of four actually were.
Four out of five U.S. Women are dissatisfied with their appearance.
A study found that adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight than getting cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents.
Over one half of normal weight white adolescent girls consider themselves fat.
Following viewing images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angrier than prior to viewing the images.
When preschoolers were offered dolls identical in every respect except weight, they preferred the thin doll nine out of ten times.
A study asked children to assign attractiveness values to pictures of children with various disabilities. The participants rated the obese child less attractive than a child in a wheelchair, a child with a facial deformity, and a child with a missing limb.
A study found that women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25%, yet the same women were able to correctly estimate the width of a box.
In a Glamour survey, 61% of respondents said they were ashamed of their hips, 64% were ashamed of their stomachs and 72% were ashamed of their thighs.
30% of women chose an ideal body shape that is 20% underweight and an additional 44% chose an ideal body shape 10% underweight.
50% of women wear size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.
In 1950 mannequins closely resembled the average measurements or women. The average hip measurement of mannequins and women were 34 inches. By 1990 the average hip measurement was 37 inches, while the average mannequins hip measured only 31 inches.
If today's mannequins were actual human women, based on their theoretical body-fat percentages they would have probably ceased to menstruate.
The average U.S. woman is 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds. In contrast, the average U.S. model is 5'11" and weighs 117 pounds.
Over the last three decades fashion models, Miss America contestants, and Playboy centerfolds have grown steadily thinner, while the average woman's weight has actually risen.
Some of the pictures of the models in magazines do not really exist. The pictures are computer-modified compilations of different body parts.
A study found that 25% of Playboy centerfolds met the weight criteria for Anorexia.
Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23% less.
Kate Moss is 5'7" and weights 95 pounds. That is 30% below ideal body weight.
Supermodels Niki Taylor and Elle Macpherson also meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
Gisele Bundchen was Vogue's model of the year, in part the magazine states, because she strays from the rail-thin image. Gisele is 5'11" and weighs only 115, that is 25% below her ideal body weight