Skinny Models Are Making You Fat
Updated March 22, 2021, originally posted on April 2, 2009
We don't know how we missed this important article from Newsweek two years ago in which it is revealed that the reason Americans have gained weight is because of skinny models. That's right. Skinny models are making you fat. It's all their fault.
Now, let's walk through the steps of how this happened. Remember the skinny model controversy? Models were passing out and even dying from trying to be skeletally thin, so there was an outcry and demand for minimum weight limits for runway and print models. That, of course, never went anywhere, but it certainly got a lot of headlines at the time.
Well, according to Newsweek, seeing skinny models all the time makes young girls go on dangerous diets which never work and set up a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and binging. That leads to weight gain over time.
While the travails of the thin and beautiful almost always make for good copy, we should remember that only about 1 percent of the American population is anorexic, while nearly two thirds of adults are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So it's not as if skinny models have inspired an epidemic of slimness. In fact, the real danger may be that the contrast between the girls on the catwalks and the girls at the mall is creating an atmosphere ripe for binge dieting and the kind of unhealthy eating habits that ultimately result in weight gain, not loss.
Cynthia Bulik is a clinical psychologist heading the eating-disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She told Newsweek, "You always [have to] look at the discrepancy between the real and the ideal. If [kids] see themselves gaining weight and then they see these ultra-thin models, the discrepancy between how they see themselves in the mirror and how they feel they have to look is bigger. And that can prompt more extreme behaviors."
Newsweek also reports that the gap between models and the weight of average American women is widening. Models weigh 23% less than the average American woman compared to 8% less 25 years ago. Models are also about five inches taller than just ten years ago. Newsweek notes that this trend is "enough to make any woman feel like a hobbit in comparison to what they're seeing in magazines." That might make you feel good in the Shire but not in any American town.
But even the models can't live up to the new beauty standards, because their best photos are massively retouched. All moles, freckles, hairs, wrinkles and any imperfections are digitally erased. Thin models are made to look even thinner in fashion spreads. This is why most actresses look totally different in paparazzi shots of them going to Starbucks than how they look on the cover of Vogue.
Update: Here's a BBC report on whether any new laws will help combat the skinny model epidemic.
Update 3-22-21: While there has been an increase in the use of models with curvier shapes most models are still underweight. A 2020 study reported by Study Finds found that 4 in 5 models are still underweight and use risky methods to stay that way.