survey analysis: part 4

Did you miss part 1, part 2 or part 3?

When talking about body image nowadays, people assume that the media has something to do with it. I know personally the media had nothing to do with my eating disorder so I thought that I’d try to ask people about their experience with eating disorders and how the media played a role in that experience.

“Eating disorders are not necessarily about body image. While images in magazines may distort our ideas of what is considered to be an ideal human body, they have little to do with eating disorders, at least in my opinion. Eating disorders are manifestations of deeper-seated psychological issues.”

That was my experience and one that’s been echoed in this study among the 39.2% of respondents who either have or have recovered from an eating disorder. That’s a large number and to make things worse, another 38.4% of women have known someone close to them who’s struggled meaning that 3 out of 4 women have been affected by eating disorders in some way.

Six percent preferred not to answer this question and while direct assumptions can not be made, guesses are that the question was an emotional topic for them maybe because they’re in denial themselves, are helping someone now or have lost someone from this disease.

The media could be triggering, but there wasn’t a direct link between their feelings of themselves and their media intake. “It was a way for me to have control–an idea not given to me by the media. So, yes I feel the media does play a role in determining how women feel about their bodies and what is beautiful, but they are not the only factor.” These disorders are more because of perfectionism, being rewarded, and other emotional events like divorce or abuse. “Speaking from my own experience, the media didn’t have much to do with my ED. Mine was due to pressure from the sport I competed in my whole life (think gymnastics, although that’s not what I did). Rather than feel influenced by the media, I felt I had to be stick thin because I was rewarded the most when I was that way. I was second at nationals when I was at my smallest, gained a little weight, started not placing so well, lost the weight through starvation, and started winning again.”

The triggering, but not causing relationship was also shown by this woman who said, “I hardly ever read beauty/health magazines (except at the doctor’s waiting room, maybe), read ‘the right kind’ of blogs (ED-recovery oriented, health food blogs etc.), don’t really watch TV etc. and still suffer from anorexia nervosa. Media might play into it a little, but it is definitely not a large factor in this mess I am in.”

Conclusion: What does this tell us? What can we do about it?

The cycle of negativity, disordered eating and eating disorders can also trickle down from mother to daughter and media to consumer. “Because I think confidence comes from within. My negative body thoughts originated because my mom is constantly on diets and unhappy with her body, so she passed that self-hating attitude to me and was always telling me to go to the gym, not eat dessert, etc. Yes, I look in magazines/movies and used to see the image of what I wanted/felt like I should be and it hurt even more, but that was only a contributing factor, not the main cause. When I beat my ED, I didn’t stop reading magazines, I simply stopped comparing myself and cut out the negative chatter.” Across generations, body issues have been a problem and if our mothers are showing their daughters these behaviors, they’re ultimately going to follow. Likewise, we continue to tell other women they aren’t good enough, they will feel that stress.

Because of this, instilling prevention programs at a young age (middle school and older) to women to learn about media literacy and also proper nutrition is key. Nutrition is really a glazed over topic in health classes in middle school and high school that just show the food pyramid. While this is a start, it doesn’t tell women why we need certain foods or even other options if you follow different lifestyles like vegetarianism or veganism. Obviously in a health class, they cannot get into too much detail, but it’s been said that many women try a vegetarian diet or even vegan to just be able to cut things out and in turn, eat less. That only starts a downward spiral. Along with that, media literacy in a health class would be recommended because health is not just physical health, but mental health. If we can talk about airbrushing and some of the standards prevalent in society, girls may be able to grow-up trying not to compare themselves to a standard models and celebrities can’t even achieve.

For magazines, the primary thing I would recommend would be to start using a diverse set of models interchangeably in the pages. There are always the “size” issues, but those just further show that seeing different sizes can only be a special occasion when it should be the norm. If we show women that they can grow up and be whatever size, it won’t cure eating disorders, but it won’t be a trigger and certainly will lessen body dissatisfaction and negatively comparing each other. Is it so bad to tell someone they’re beautiful? I don’t think so!

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All done! I can’t believe this project is complete- or at least for these immediate purposes. This last section is what’s really pushing the new blog and I hope you guys enjoy that too.

Was there anything you were surprised about reading or that you learned?

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PS: I can’t wait to launch the new blog, but it still might be under construction. I have some general things but my friend is helping with illustrations and I don’t know when she’s going to be done.

A formal announcement will be very soon!!!!

survey analysis: part 3

Miss part 1 or part 2?

Along with the media, there are advertisements. I wanted to see what women said about the images they saw to get a better understanding of how they perceived the models.

In the survey, there were three advertisements that were shown to the respondents- one ad of 5 plus-sized models, one of an ad that was shot with one straight-sized model and one plus-sized model and one of Demi Moore in an ad with a picture beside it of her naturally.

The first photograph is below and the question asked with it was “What do you see when you look at this ad?”

With or without an experience with eating disorders, the responses were close to the same. There were two types of comments, ones that said they were beautiful and looked normal so that probably meant they were plus-sized models and ones that commented that they had on too much eye makeup and looked bored, sad, and aloof. I found these comments surprising since I was afraid there could have been a slight bias with the questions that proceeded. We’ve been talking about body image, eating disorders and the media and while some did pick up on the fact that they were plus-sized models without a prompt, most were so concentrated on their eye make-up and how they showed themselves. Many called them “beautiful” and said that they saw themselves being represented which actually made them feel good.

Which leads to the second photograph, which was a set of photographs of Demi Moore. The one on the left was of her airbrushed for an advertisement and the one on the right was her naturally at that photo shoot.

About 75% percent of women said they like Demi Moore naturally (on the right) then her airbrushed. Maybe magazines and ads should use less airbrushing and less fake looking people? I’m not sure what the respondents were thinking since I didn’t get written responses from this question, but it’s clear that people love the natural look which is good for Marie Claire since they recently did a whole spread on Jessica Simpson un-airbrushed this past month.

The last set of photographs was with two models, the one on the left is straight-sized and the one on the right is plus-sized, but to me, this was the most telling.

It was too close to say which photograph was preferred the most or which way the industry should take to advertise to women. Women loved the left (49.9%) just a fraction less than the left (50.1%), which was actually a different of only one person! So while this didn’t make a huge conclusion on the surface, it brought up the fact that whether a company uses a straight-sized model or a plus-sized model, it will give the same reaction- half will love it and half won’t.

This is also telling because a recent study conducted by Arizona State University concluded by saying that plus-size models could be detrimental to female consumers. Quoted from a previous blog post I wrote on this study, “the actual finding showed that women with a low BMI showed a boost in self-esteem when they viewed all advertisements because they identified positively to the thinner models and felt different from the heavier models. On the other hand, high BMI showed a decrease in self-esteem when they viewed the advertisements because they weren’t able to identify with the thinner, “idealized,” models, but could to the overweight models.”

“This study also found that the women within the normal BMI range had the greatest shifts in self-esteem depending on what advertisement they were shown. For example, if they viewed a thin model, they felt similar and good and if they saw a moderately heavy model, they worried they were similar and overweight.”

I don’t discredit this study or say that their findings were wrong, even though I found a few flags in the study write-up itself, but based on my survey, their findings didn’t hold true. Like the previous set of photographs, I do not know the actual feelings of the respondents since it was only a “left” or “right” question, but that also makes the answers more definite.

survey analysis: part 2

Did you miss part one? We talked about viewership of magazines, beauty definition and body image, but now it’s about…

… the Media

Unfortunately, whether it’s the media’s fault for making women feel not good enough or the reader’s fault for buying the magazine in the first place, 46% of women said that the media affects their feelings of their body a little while 41.6% said it has a lot of influence. “Unquestionably, society has an obsession with women’s bodies (and criticizing them). [It] boggles my mind.”

Even if women read these magazines, they can become unclear with what the message they are reading into. “Health magazines constantly push the need to lose 5-10 lbs. What is “the media’s” definition of the perfect body? Who knows,” said one reader. Or if it is more defined, is the magazine just trying to make money? Are the writers trying to help us or are they trying to just talk how the companies want them to talk? Another respondent brought up these questions when she said, “I think the media absolutely defines a standard of beauty, often at the behest of companies who stand to make money by moving the bar of perfection farther and farther away so that we buy the products that will make us skinny and beautiful overnight and all that jazz. As much as I might like to ignore that particular brand of beauty, and declare that I don’t subscribe to it, it is difficult when it’s impossible to escape it. From movies and TV shows to advertising to the Internet, I see those images everyday multiple times a day.”

Being bombarded was a trend among respondents saying, “the pressure to be thinner is very much magnified by the media. Specifically, the media contributes to a perception that beauty is formulaic (i.e., everyone needs to look like X to be beautiful), as well as, more tangentially, the perception that it is worthwhile to sacrifice much to be ‘this’ kind of beautiful. For instance, ‘diets’ in these magazines are often not healthful – the message is then that we sacrifice healthful eating for thinness. I believe myself to not be fully sucked in by these messages, but am simultaneously certain that they do have some influence.”

That was the saddest thing when reading responses from women- knowing that they knew they were being influenced, but they have a hard time stopping it from happening. “When I answered the following questions it isn’t that I think about the media when answering the questions, however I think that my answers are influenced by the media without even thinking about it, due to the constant pressures to be thin and constantly wearing make up and looking beautiful.” The same goes for this woman who said, “The media is everywhere. Even if I don’t consciously think about its effect on me, I know there’s no way I can be escaping all of the messages.”

Researchers have tried to answer the media’s involvement with women developing negative relationships with their bodies, but in my opinion and one that was found through this study as well, the media plays a heavier role in creating body dissatisfaction and disordered eating habits, like some that are presented in the pages, rather then eating disorders themselves. That’s where the media has to watch how it speaks to women and also what they are teaching. Our media has grown in great strides over the past 10 years with magazines, the internet and social media platforms, but with all of this growth, media literacy has not followed so you have women growing up with these messages, but they’re not able to discern what’s good for them or what’s bad.

There are also others who have either struggled in the past with body issues or an eating disorder and because of it, want to try to change the media’s influence. “In the past, I would have said a lot. This year I am making it my goal to be more positive about my self-image. I am finally becoming (still working out a few kinks) happy with my body the way it is. Do I look at models in magazines and think, ‘I wish I was as thin as them?’ Sometimes. More often now I look at the models in fitness magazines and think ‘I’d rather have muscle than be too thin.’ I recently learned that Wilhelmina Models has an athletic division, and I think that is great.”

survey analysis: part 1

Ok, here it is! I promised I’d share some of the results I wrote about for the end of my study book so here it is. I think after you read it, you’ll understand why I’m launching the new blog and what it means to me to do so. I’m going to split it into sections, since it’s about 7 pages and I wouldn’t expect anyone to read all of it at once. If you have any questions or want the actual quantitative summary of just the numbers/statistics, feel free to email me.

Also, just for your information, I want to give you some facts about our average respondent.

• She ages between 18-24 (42.5%) and 25-30 (40%).
• She’s white (94.8%) and non-Hispanic (96.2%).
• She probably lives in the Northeast (33.2%); however, there was a good sampling between all other regions of the country- Mid-Atlantic (12.6%), South (19.8%), Midwest (16.8%), Southeast (4.2%)and West (13.4%).
• Whether she’s single (30.7%), in a relationship (39.2%) or married (28.8%) is unclear, but she does not have kids (93.7%).

Viewership

Seventeen. Glamour. Cosmopolitan. Women’s Health. Allure. Fitness. TeenVogue. Elle. Vogue. Oxygen. Runner’s World. With all these titles and many more, it’s was no surprise that 79.5% of women said that they read magazines on a regular basis, which was characterized as 8 out of 12 months a year. The top five magazines read were Self (62.2%), Shape (59.8%), Women’s Health (45.7%), Glamour (41.2%) and Fitness (41.6%).

What does “beautiful” mean?

created by Wordle

It was close, but 52% said that the magazines they read do not represent their idea of beauty; however readers of the top 5 primarily said that they did. There were some suggestions for these magazines, even the top 5, which included more realistic and more diverse approaches to beauty. “It’s so focused on the outside. You read an article on making ‘body peace’ and ‘loving yourself,’ but then two pages later there’s an article on how to make yourself perfect if only you do these 8 simple moves and buy these jeans. It’s so contradictory,” said one respondent who reads Glamour regularly. She’s not the only one who feels this way. “Many magazines teach us that we aren’t ‘beautiful enough’ instead of showing us how we can appreciate who we are,” said one respondent who reads all of the top 5 on a regular basis.

Some more suggestions included, “no airbrushing” and to see “models/people with cellulite, not the clearest skin, frizzy hair, etc…NORMAL people. Naturally thin, toned, curvy, etc.” But stating what the magazines do is not going to change anything because while the editors are great people, they’re also trying to get people to get advertisements and more subscriptions. However, it was shown that readers want to relate to the people in the magazines. Sensationalized gossip is fun every now and again, but regularly, they want to read the stories about their peers, about who other fabulous women around the world who are making a difference in their own lives or in others lives because that’s more inspiring. Now the question to them is “why do you still buy the magazines if you don’t agree with their content or practices?” But that’s for another survey.

Body Image

When asked how they felt about their bodies, only 19% said that they were happy with their body. Period. Another 6% said that they were generally happy, but would like to tone up a bit and gain more muscle or know they could eat healthier.

That being said, 61% of women said that they think they could lose weight. I was very touched by the 1% who admitted that they are still struggling from an eating disorder and know that they should actually gain weight, but cannot see it for themselves at this time.

Next up: the media’s role, eating disorders and how women view advertisements…

the price of beauty: japan

Tokyo was the next place Jessica, Ken and Cacee visited to look at their beauty customs. I was interested to see it because my parent’s neighbor’s daughter went there for a while after college and spoke so highly of it that ever since, it’s a place I have on my “travel list.” There’s a lot on that list.

The first stop is always to meet the beauty ambassador and this time wasn’t any different. Rio Mori, who was Miss Universe in 2007 and now a model, brought them to the tea house to talk about beauty in the country, but also to learn some Japanese.

She said that while women have more freedom now, there’s a huge pressure for Japanese women to be beautiful because for a long time, women always stood behind the men and were subservient. Cosmetic surgery is big, but not something that’s talked about and the most popular surgery is a double eyelid procedure to make their eyes bigger.

What the other thing is common for an episode? A spa.

The first thing they did was go on a rock walk which is a small pond-like area with rocks on the bottom of it that’s supposed to massage your feet and hit pressure points in your feet. They had a very hard time walking.

They then went to a pool with a bunch of little fish in it. As you put your feet in the water, the fish come up and suck the dead skin off of your feet as a pedicure. It’s funny because I had recently heard something about this a few months ago, but it was so weird seeing it. I can’t imagine how weird it’d feel.

The best part or should I say the most different treatment was the sand pit where they were covered from their chin down by sand. It was supposed to exfoliate and be like a sauna and they just had to lay there for 2 hours.

Something that’s associated with Japanese tradition and beauty is a geisha so their next stop was to learn what it took to be one. They got handed a basket with a kimono, but were asked to strip to their skips to be dressed in one.

Next, the girls got white paint on their face which was traditionally made from nightingale poop. Ken has said this before and I think it’s an important thing to note, but he’s helped many celebrities get ready for award ceremonies and what makes this experience better is the tradition behind  it.

FYI: geishas do not marry. They cannot fall in love.

There’s a very specific way in which geishas must perform tasks. Jessica said the hardest part about being a geisha was the walking.

You must walk very straight and with very small steps, but then there’s also the tea service. You must hand tea a certain way, pour a certain way. Everything has it’s place so it’s not just for fun. And just an added tidbit, did you know that in the 1920’s there were over 80.000 geishas? Now there are about 1,500.

Afterwards, Jessica and CaCee were put to the test of being a geisha for two businessmen.

Let’s just say that the men didn’t want to be served by them again… oh well…

But Japan is not all about traditions and the old world, but the modern day harajuka girls.

It was started to allow women self expression and a free creativity since the traditional women was very oppressed. It was their empowerment.

Before leaving, Jessica really wanted to go to a clinic and meet with a woman who wanted to get the cosmetic surgery Rio talked about earlier in their trip- the double eyelid which make their eyes look more Western.

Here, the bigger the eyes are, the more beautiful.

As an ending, they had a fashion show of all the beautiful looks they had seen during their trip to celebrate. There were all different styles and really showed the girl’s style. CaCee wore a kimono but with nontraditional makeup and hair.

She said it was liberating and fun as everyone in the audience was clapping along to the music and having a great time. Jessica too said that it was empowering when she dressed as a harajuka girl with everyone cheering YOU on no matter how you’re dressed.

“Breathtaking” was the closing adjective to describe Japan but will Rio de Janeiro be the same?

…in other fashion news, here are 8 fashion apps for you to know about 🙂

the price of beauty: morocco

This week Jessica, CaCee and Ken discovered Morocco with it’s veiled women, mopeds and of course, camels.

Their first stop, as always, was to meet their beauty ambassador, Khansa Batma, who’s a famous singer there. Jessica immediately said she felt that she had such confidence and asked her what makes Morcoccan women feel beautiful? She said that there it wasn’t about the dress or the food you eat, but how you act and carry yourself.

After talking, Khansa Batma brought them to get a traditional dress and and veil. While it’s also for covering up, the veil helps to protect the face from the wind and sun. As Ken said, this makes you talk with eyes which CaCee actually enjoyed.

When they went to the market next, she said they men would actually be looking straight into your eyes and not at your butt or chest.

What they didn’t care for so much at the market was sheep brain. It’s a delicacy in Morocco and a great source of protein and iron, but while it’s great for your hair and skin, Jessica did not like the texture and said it was like an eyeball.

I do have to say though that I was happy she tried it and didn’t spit anything out like her first show in Thailand.

Next, they met up with a family to talk about beauty. There were three generations of women with the youngest, Leila, being the most liberal with her dress of jeans and a 3/4 length shirt.

A big thing about the Moroccan culture is to preserve and respect themselves for the right man. Because of this, the married women didn’t shake hands with Ken. Covering up is another way that they to protect their beauty for their partner.

What was interesting though was that Leila actually thought that the way Jessica was dressed was inappropriate and too revealing- she was wearing shorts- because of the amount of leg she showed.

Jessica’s response? I like my legs, just like you like your cleavage, and that might sound harsh, but I do have to admit, I would have stuck up for Jessica in that situation too. Leila was attacking her and our culture when they were just trying to talk with them and see how they live. The good thing though was that because of that experience, Jessica said that she felt more comfortable to wear what she wanted to and own it. Yay!

Because of that “stressful” experience, they next went to a spa which is called a Hamman and models the older Greek and Roman spas.

They had a scrub (which was none too soft) and then a mud wrap before having a water fight while rinsing off the wrap.

Afterwards, Khansa has arranged a surprise for them. The surprise was to learn how to dance with a tea tray dance which is when you dance and swirl your hips while balancing a tray with a tea kettle and lit candles.

The seduction is posture and balance.

Lastly, they rode a camel to a party with all the women they met during their stay- including Leila, who liked Jessica’s dress for the evening!

I have to say that Ken gives some of the best comments and summaries of the whole show at the end. He said that he thought that Jessica had more confidence covered up. As CaCee said, sexy is a lot of different things, not just skin and in Morocco, it IS more about who you are and looking into the person, not AT. It’s about the self and the way they respect themselves and value themselves that makes the difference.

Be ready for Japan next time! I can’t wait to see the geishas!

I have to say that this was one of my favorite shows. Which place has been your favorite? Thailand, Paris, India, Uganda or Morocco?

vogue curvy celebrates julie henderson

I saw this on Madison Plus last Thursday and had to post about it because 1. I think she’s beautiful and 2. I’m starting to really dislike this term “plus-size” model.

(source)

Read more about her here, but Julie is an inspiration for every young woman out there. She graduated from college in 2000 with a degree in Marketing and was a very successful basketball player before signing with Ford Models. She loves showing off her curves and actually is upset when castings try to hide them.

But what really struck me was that she’s a plus-size. This term has been so skewed since it first came out. When I was younger, the term may have been used, but it was for women who didn’t not fit the average range of sizes of 0-16. I think that range has been extended, but in the fashion industry, an 6-8 is now a “plus-size” while the average woman is a size 14. A little off?

Likewise, when I went to the NEDA panel, I met Emme, one of the most famous “plus-size” models. More of that later, but let me tell you, the adjective “plus-size” would definitely not be the first adjective I’d use to describe her. Actually it wouldn’t be in my vocabulary at all.

These women are real. They have curves. They love their body. They have goals. Now I’m not saying that women who are petite, thin and more straight in the hips are not real because they are, but all of us can tell someone who looks sick and someone who’s naturally thin. You can see it in their eyes, their smile and the way they hold themselves. I can only hope that one day those eyes, smile and confidence can show up more on the runway and advertisements soon 🙂

the price of beauty: uganda

Not only was Uganda on my mind this week since Arlington Academy of Hope, our client for my PR Portfolio group, is located there, but The Price of Beauty was also in this African country on Monday.

They immediately went to a rural part of the country to meet their beauty ambassador, Judy, who grew up in Hima tribe, but now lives in the city so she has both perspectives of their culture’s beauty.

After they arrived, Judy brought them to the store in the village for them to put on some of their dresses. They’re made of silks and beautiful materials, but a difference between their clothing and ours is that they are billowy and made to make the woman look bigger and fuller. As Jessica said, “we wear the corsets,” but in this tribe, the fatter you are, the more beautiful you are, yet that’s offensive here in the states.

From there, they went to go talk to some men about what they think beauty is. Unlike the tabloids here, they actually told Jessica that she needed to gain weight and was too thin. She asked them what “too big” is considered and one said, “if she’s having difficulty getting up, then she’s too fat.”

But there’s an underlying symbol as to this view of beauty. See in Uganda, cows are a status symbol. The larger your herd of cows, the wealthier you are. The bigger your wife is, the more money you have, but also the more she looks like a cow which is a compliment in that area.

A large beauty tradition comes when a woman is getting ready for marriage. Jessica and CaCee met Martunge who is about to get married, but for the last 2 months she’s been living in a “fattening hut” where her mother and aunt prepare her.

She drinks gourds full of milk all day (about 5,000 calories a day) without doing anything else. In those 2 months, she’s gained over 80 pounds, but men appreciate and love a woman with curves so this tradition is considered a right of passage into womanhood.

While the girls are with Martunge, Ken goes with one of the village’s men to learn how to milk a cow. It’s the same milk that Martunge’s been drinking for the last few months and I think Ken was surprised at the thickness and richness. It’s not the pasteurized skim milk we can get here, but unpasteurized, raw whole milk.

While using herbs for medicinal purposes was once considered liberal and hippie, it’s been gaining popularity in the States the last few years; however, in other parts of the world, it’s very common. Uganda is no different. They met with a woman who uses herbs in specific combinations to make lotions, hair washes and deodorants. These can leave a lasting scent for several days aside from its other properties.

The most exciting part of their stay was when they were all asked to be a part of Martunge’s bridal party. Jessica and CaCee were bridesmaids as Ken was a groomsman. CaCee said that you could tell it was an imporant day for the village and the neighboring ones because of the tents and decorations. All the villagers were dressed up and in their best clothes.

Another difference between their wedding traditions and ours is that the bride is dressed all in black with her head and face is covered and is under an umbrella until the end of the ceremony. The groom can not see her at all throughout the entire ceremony.

“Beauty is what you want to see, it’s up to nobody else but you want to see and what the people of Uganda wanted to see is a full figured woman. That’s beauty here,” Ken said at the end of the segment. Well said! Why do we think thin is beautiful? Why did we ever?

Jessica said that being in Uganda made her see a definition of beauty that she’s never known before and it makes you think about your definition and your perceptions. She respects them for loving their way of life as they were always happy and smiling no matter how big you are. What a wonderful way to live!

Next destination, Morocco… and from the sound of the previews, Jessica’s going to be showing a little too much skin for them…

When was the last time you felt beautiful? Does your size play a role in how beautiful you feel?

“weighty matters” part 2

If you missed part 1, you can read it here 🙂

To recap, we’ve talked about mixed messaging and BMI and will now cover the last 4 topics. I will write the full names of the speakers during the first topic we talk about today and then use their initials after. These are not direct quotes, but summaries of their comments. Now on to the…

Diet Industry

• Did you know that in ten years (from 1987 to 1997) the sales in diet industry increased from $33 billion to $50 billion with a 98% failure rate? (Emme, model, activist and NEDA Ambassador)
• With that gross amount of money, you also have to ask who’s in bed with that advertising? All advertising is not to “do well” for consumers, but to increase their bottom line. (Joe Nadglowski Jr., President & CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition)
• There needs to be more involvement with the medical schools because the doctors rising with education lack the proper nutrition training to have the basis to talk about it. (Wendy Naugle, Deputy Health Editor in Glamour magazine)
• Not only do doctors lack the training to talk about these issues, they lack the education is any weight-related issue so it’s hard to expect them to talk about it properly at all. We have to raise the standard of health and stop shaming people based on their size. (Ovidio Bermudez, Past President of NEDA and now representing AED, IAEDP and BEDA)
• An overall agreement was that we have to watch the branding to kids! Labeling sticks, not just with food, but with habits.

Who’s to Demonize?

• Overweight people are targeted everyday. People love to hate fat people and use them as a scapegoat to feel better about themselves. (Katy Dailey, Health & Lifestyles Editor at Newsweek.com)
• We lost our personal responsibility to look after ourselves. We need better nutrition education and insurance coverage. Right now there’s a mentality that when it’s broken or a problem then I’ll fix it as opposed to preventing the problem in the first place. At the same time, healthy living isn’t sexy. It doesn’t sell. (Max Gomez, medical reporter for WCBS-TV)
• But watch how much weight you give personal responsibility because it’s both the choices we make and the environment we live in (food industry, socio-economic issues, etc) that shape one’s health. (JD)
• Did you know that 70% of your body size is genetic? Genes load the gun and environment pulls the trigger in both under-eating and overeating. But environment isn’t a mask, it’s a pathway and a social responsibility. (Donna Ryan, President of The Obesity Society)
• The bridge is the family and the habits parents teach their children. (OB)
• However, it’s hard to motivate the conference room to do the right thing in $$$ form. They have to balance responsibility with the bottom line so timing is important. Stopping absolute messaging and abiding by the saying of “do no harm” is the key because as much as we loved Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, the products didn’t sell. It was the most expensive PSA! (Jen Drexler, Partner of Just Ask a Woman)

How do we start talking about this issue?

• Shaming is not the answer! (and after a brief discussion about Michelle Obama talking about her girl’s health) That should be addressed, but in a private matter. (OB)
• We have to try to balance a private matter and knowledge for the greater good. (JN)
• These issues are more similar than the general public knows, but what they don’t know is that it’s also mental. We need to provide the tools for early intervention before the split of people either under-eating or overeating to deal with emotions. (OB)

Recommendations?

• We need a thoughtful approach that targets the factor contributing to eating disorders and obesity and be supportive of those patients. (DR)
• The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter who’s to blame. Let’s just end this! (JN)
• We need to continue to monitor health risk from a broad perspective with a thoughtful and sensitive approach and collaborate between the facets of health instead of pointing fingers. (OB)
• This is about real women. Take this conversation out of this room! Capture women’s language and try to make it more positive like talking about your “happy weight,” not your “goal weight” which seems impossible. (JD)
• Be more compassionate with yourself! No more body bashing! (Emme)
• We need to start using behaviors as health metrics, not just the number on the scale. We also need to talk deeper about weight and the factors while broadening our definition of health. (KD)
• I want to see more campaigns like Dove. We have to approach the stigma from both sides and not judge ourselves too harshly. Be your own best friend. (WN)
• Focus on health, not weight. Companies will try to sell you anything if they can so buy the messages with your dollars. (MG)

Wow! That was a lot of information, but I can’t tell you how valuable it was. This panel lasted for two hours and just had so much energy that it was agreed there was a lot more that could be said and there should be another one. I agree! Thank you Lynn!

If any of you have any specific questions regarding the panel or even any of the issues, please feel free to email me at sweetestthingdc [at] gmail [dot] com.

In the meantime, what issue is the most important or closest to you do you have a recommendation for change?

“weighty matters” part 1

I’m very lucky that I’ve known one of my best friend for 19 years.

Wow, that sounds like a long time and it is, but ever since the first time we started playing together in kindergarten, we’ve been family. Our parents weren’t “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” but “Uncle” and “Aunt.”

This is Whitney (and our sugar waffles) 🙂

I’m also very lucky because Whitney lives in NYC now. Living in Florida, she hadn’t been to Paris or NYC as of 3 years ago… and then I created a monster! hehe! When I went to Paris and Normandy with my family for my 21st birthday, Whitney came and while she was shocked at first with some of the cultural differences (like laundry), she feel in love by the second week. Then I went to NYC and while she had visited before, suddenly after a few life changes, she moved up when I moved back to D.C.

Maybe bad timing, but it’s actually worked out quite easily because whenever I go up to NYC, I get to stay with her. Yes, it’s free, but it’s also home. I’m on the list at her building so I can go straight up. I know her dog and he knows me so if Whit’s not there when I get in, I take him out. I know where everything is and I just see her when our schedules cross. Doesn’t that sound nice?

So when I saw a panel discussion that I wanted to go to in NYC on a Friday morning, that’s where I stayed. I took the train up on Thursday afternoon and met her at the apartment before going our separate way for the evening. Of course no good “sleepover” would be complete without “girl talk” when we got back in 😉

But then Friday morning came and I got up and went to Weighty Matters hosted by the National Eating Disorders Association at Pace University. First may I just say that the people on this panel were fabulous. It was such a nice mix of people from both sides of this discussion on obesity and eating disorders in our society today.

At first glance, there two issues seem very different and they are on the outward appearance, but at the same time, they’re not different at all. That was part of the introduction between the two groups- the story about how they met. After Mrs. Obama announced her fight against obesity (and also her daughters nutrition and weight), Lynn Grefe, the current CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, wrote to the White House to discuss how to include eating disorder in the talk of health. They directed her to talk with the “obesity people” which led her to Christine Ferguson of STOP Obesity Alliance. After talking about what both sides wanted- overall health, treatment and coverage for their patients, they realized how similar their goals were and that they could work together… and thus this panel.

There were 6 major topics that were talked about and while I won’t completely summarize since I’ll probably lose you, I’ll bullet the important points. I’ll do 2 topics here and 4 on a following post to break it up since there’s a lot to digest and think about. Also, at the end of a comment, I’ll write who said it at the first topic and then use initials for the following topics.

Mixed messaging

• Like eating disorders, the obese are stigmatized in society. Patients and the doctors who treat them will not be covered by insurance because of this. (Donna Ryan, President of The Obesity Society)
• Weight has become a cosmetic issue with the different surgeries, but the discussion needs to shift from cosmetic and outward appearance to health. (Joe Nadglowski Jr., President and CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition)
• The quality of life of obese patients is worse than those surviving cancer and that’s a real problem. At the same time, “we live in a setting, in an environment where we’re told to eat, eat, eat, but not look like it.” (Ovidio Bermudez, Past President of NEDA and now represents AED, IAEDP and BEDA)
• We have to capture the language women use to talk about her body, her daughters body and use that to create a shift. We also have to redefine the speed of health because since the “after” pictures are glamorized, people will go to extreme measures to have that overnight. (Jen Drexler, Partner at Just Ask a Woman)
• We have to first change our own beliefs as consumers and realize that we’re supposed to be different to thrive. We also need to work together as a task force for diversity. Also, watch how you look at a person. When the actress was nominated and won for her performance in Precious, there was a lot of anger towards her weight, but if she was a man, that wouldn’t be the case. (Emme, model, activist and NEDA Ambassador)
• In our society, we use a shorthand that thin= healthy and fat= unhealthy, but we need to develop a marco view and a language to describe that range in between. (Katy Dailey, Health and Lifestyles Editor for Newsweek.com)
• Fat people need heads! No more headless, large torsos! (KD)
• Time shows a large disconnect and because of that, the fairy tale ending is fueling the quick-fix, diet industry. Real women come in all shapes and sizes. Some have curves, some don’t. (Wendy Naugle, Deputy Health Editor at Glamour magazine)
• The media gets a lot of blame, but it’s all of the U.S. We want the quick fix and since we’re looking for it, producers make it (or try to). We have to all work together from the food industry to the diet industry and everything in between (beauty, media and policy) to address this, but also walk the fine line to not overly address obesity and send more into eating disorders. (Max Gomez, medical reporter for WCBS-TV)

BMI

• It’s a good way to access health on a population basis in research, but it’s not good on an individual basis because it doesn’t estimate risk especially in the elderly, body builders and other ethnicities. Also by having cut points, it reinforces an ideal like “if I could only get to…” (DR)
• Weight creates a barrier- we need to frame it as a health discussion related to a person’s size. (JN)
• It’s an assessment so it shouldn’t be thrown away, but used as a part of a comprehensive test because being underweight is just as dangerous as being overweight. (OB)
• It’s a balance because most women do not know their exact weight or BMI, but the size of their clothes. The unfortunate part is all size 2s or size 8s are not made the same and women flock to the smallest size possible so it leaves the question of “how do I measure myself?” (JD)
• BMI is only in the physical realm, but doesn’t show habits. We need to start stressing healthy habits at any size because that will lower risk aside from weight. (KD)

Did you get all of that? Now relax, digest, and comment…

What do you think about these two issues? Where do you stand and what do you think should happen? Part 2 is coming up tomorrow where topics include the diet industry, who’s to blame, how to start change and recommendations!