First Some Research Findings:

1. Women are much more likely to be on a weight reduction diet than men. On a similar vein, women are much more likely to weigh themselves on a regular basis than men.

2. Studies show that many young women's ideal weight is about 20 pounds less than their real weight. On the other hand, most young men's ideal weight is about the same as their real weight.

3. About 75% of young women are dissatisfied with some aspect of their body. In contrast, only about 25% of young men are dissatisfied (although this number may be growing).

4. Body dissatisfaction in women starts at a very young age. This is often somewhere around the start of puberty (eight to 10 years old).

5. In the U.S., women are ten times more likely to have an eating disorder than men.

6. 90% to 95% of all cases of anorexia nervosa or bulimia may involve women.

7. Aside from suicide, anorexia nervosa is one of the few psychological disorders that may lead to death. The mortality rate for anorexia is between 10% to 15% (or higher in some studies).

8. Although Americans spend about 50 billion a year in an attempt to lose weight, 97% of all diets fail within a year. In most cases, the person gains the same or more weight back.

9. Many eating disorders begin after a weight reduction diet.

10. Over the last 30 years, female models in magazines, television and the movies have become significantly thinner.

11. Many young women use models in fashion magazines as the reference point for what they themselves should look like.

12. Many young women believe that their health would be better if their bodies were similar to those of fashion models.

13. Body-image distortion (where you perceive your body as different than it really is) occurs on both men and women.

14. Body-image distortion occurs in individuals with and without eating disorders.

15. In general, women tend to view themselves as fatter than they really are, while men tend to view themselves as similar or lighter than they really are.

16. In both men and women, body dissatisfaction tends to precede body-image distortion and probably eating disorders as well.

17. A number of studies report that many (if not most) young men and women's ideal body image is largely determined by mass media sources such as TV and magazines.

18. Popular magazines for young women have 10 times the number of advertisements for weight reduction diets and exercise than popular magazines for young men.

19. Some studies suggest that exposure to thin female models leads to stress, depression, guilt and shame for some young women who are dissatisfied with their bodies.

20. Young people are exposed to over 1000 advertisements per day through the mass media (e.g., TV., radio, newspapers, magazines, and the internet).

21. The average adult female model in fashion magazines is about 15% less than their expected weight given their height (75% of media models are underweight).

22. Some studies suggest that exposure to thin female models leads to increased body-dissatisfaction and increased body distortion in women with eating disorders.

23. Men tend to prefer women that are thin, but not as thin as most young women estimate this preference to be.

24. About 40% of girls under age 10 have already been on a weight reduction diet.

25. Scientific studies have yet to find a diet procedure that really works (e.g., keeps the weight off after one year).

26. An estimated 5 to 8 million American women have eatings disorders.

27. The media standards for an ideal woman are almost unreachable, whereas this is not the case for men.

1. Try not to turn to food when you feel upset (For alternatives to eating disorder behaviors go here)

2. Avoid going on any type of weight reduction diet. Focus on your health instead. Exercise daily. Eat balanced meals. Avoid "junk" food.

3. Avoid weighing yourself more than once a week. If your weight is not what you would like it be, try not to let it ruin your whole day.

4. Don't let your self-esteem be dominated by the way your body looks. Most people have many more successes in their life than they have failures. Focus on your successes.

5. If you already have an eating disorder, try not to expose yourself to very thin models on the media (e.g., avoid fashion magazines and the TV).

6. Listen to what you say to yourself about your body. Much of this may be distorted or simply not true. In this case try to change what you tell yourself. For example, change your "what if " statements to "so what" statements (to find out more about cognitive therapy, go here).

7. Practice some type of relaxation every day (to find out more, go here or here or here).

8. Don't be afraid to say "no" to people when they make unreasonable requests.

9. Make sure you get enough sleep every night. This will help improve your mood and help maintain your metabolism.

10. There seems to be a link between some eating disorders and depression. If you often feel depressed, look into getting some type of treatment for it ( to find out more about depressive disorders, go here).

Dying to be thin

Eating disorder recovery

Eating disorder links (1)

Eating disorder links (2)

Eating disorders links (3)

Eating Disorders links (4) Huge List

Body positive

Healthy place

Books about eating disorders

Information about anorexia and other eating disorders

Eating disorders online

mirror-mirror

Eating disorder self-test

Body Image betrayal

Information about the body-mass index

Eating disorder recovery

There's something fishy about eating disorders

Tips to improve your body-image

Set a realistic "Ideal Weight" goal for your body

Effects of advertisements

Seven steps to better body image

Images of our bodies

Body icon

Body image and eatings disorders

Pharmacotherapy of eating disorders

Books and references

Journal of Counseling and Development

Practitioner

More books for clinicians

Body image and media

Please feel free to share any information, links or comments with me here

Here are some of my publications about eating disorders. Reprints are available upon request (please specify which one(s) you would like to obtain).

Cullari, S., & Redmon, W. Information about Bulimia: The binge-purge syndrome. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Anova Research Associates, l982.

Cullari, S. & Redmon, W.K. Bibliography on bulimarexia. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice , l983, l4 (3), 400-406.

Cullari, S., & Redmon, W.K. Treatment of bulimarexia through behavior therapy and diet modification. the Behavior Therapist, 1983, 6 (9), 165-167.

Cullari, S., & Redmon, W.K. Questionnaire responses from self-identified binge eaters and purgers. Psychological Reports , 1984, 54 , 232-34.

Cullari, S. & Redmon, W.K. A primary prevention program to reduce bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Resources in Education, 1986.

Cullari, S., & Trubilla, R. Body image distortion in normal weight college women. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989, 68, 1195-1198.

Folk, L., Pederson, J., & Cullari, S. (1993). Body satisfaction and self-concept in third and six grade females. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1993, 76, 547-553.

Cullari, S., Rohrer, J., & Bahm, C. (1998). Body-image perceptions across sex and age groups. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 87, 839-847.

Cullari, S., Vosburgh, M., Shotwell, A., Inzodda, J., Davenport, W. (2002). Body-image assessment: A review and evaluation of a new computer-aided measurement technique. North American Journal of Psychology, 4, 221-232.