Each Fifth Girl under 11 Has Already Been on a Diet

The researchers have found that 20% of girls under the age of 11 have already tried dieting. Modern schoolgirls are sure that women are judged solely on their appearance and not for some abilities and inner qualities.

The experts from Government Equalities Office in the UK conducted a study which showed that girls and young women aged 11 to 21 years believe that women are judged only by their appearance. In this case, business capabilities and inner qualities of women are not considered seriously. This opinion was expressed by 87% of the survey participants.

Every sixth schoolgirl avoids going to school because she is not satisfied with her appearance. 23% do not participate in sports because of a lack of ideal appearance, while 50% believe that sweating during exercise is contrary to the standards of female beauty. Every fifth girl between the ages of 5 and 11 years has tried a diet after having read about it in magazines and the Internet or after having heard about it from friends.

Aversion to one’s own appearance becomes a real epidemic among primary and secondary school girls; it makes them vulnerable to depression. Experts talk about the dangers of the so-called “copying strategy”, when girls begin to artificially induce vomiting, take alcohol and drugs, stick to crash diets, smoke and harm their health in other ways in order to look like slim models or stars.

At the same time, polls show that 90% of adults would like to see broadened modern standards of feminine beauty rather than those which are currently promoted in the media. Alas, today’s teenage girls are convinced that success in life depends on how they look, not on what they can achieve.