Shouldn't the pressures to be thin be seen as a good thing?

Question

Alot of people nowadays go on about how there's pressure on people to be thin, ( and maybe i'm just being stupid ) but isn't it a good thing? I mean being obese or just plain overweight is unhealthy, and can lead to serious health problems, so shouldn't we encourage this pressure.
Not that i mean to encourage anorexia or people starving themselves to become waffer thin, but if the pressure is going to get people to see they are too fat, and make them want to diet and lead a more healthy lifestyle by eating healthy food and doing more exercise, why does society think it's such a bad thing?

That's what i'm saying waffer thin IS bad, as a 5'1'', 110lb, female in my teens i'm between a size 8 and 10 and wouldn't it be better if models we see in mags were more around 8/10?
And also emotional excuses in some situations may be valid but in my opinion 50% of this is rubbish.
I went through major issues when i was a 10year old kid when my father died and bullying in primary but i never started eating unhealthy amounts to "make the pain go away"

Answer 1

there is a difference between pressure to be healthy and pressure to be thin, if your pressured to lead a healthylifestyle say exercise and eat well then regardless of your size you may still be healthy , a size 12 -14 can still be a very healthy size. however a pressure to be thin denotes sizes below size 6-8, and as low as a uk size 4 (size 0 usa) which is extremely unhealthy as you are aware.....society today has us believe that thin is beautiful and fat isnt. quite right to believe that someone who is very overweight and does no exercise should be encouraged to be healthier ...i hope that makes sense it does to me but im not always that good at explaining.....

Answer 2

~Sure it can be a good thing if it persuades people to think about their weight but i think the problem ppl have with the pressure is it confuses people. Some ppl might not be overweight they could be within a healthy range yet they still don't have rock hard abs or a toned core or whatever. Most of the time when people feel the pressure they become upset/stressed that they are not good enough. Sure they will try to eat better and exercise more but not because they want to be "heathier" but because they need to fit the pressure profile of looking good. With the wrong motivation ppl can't meet their goals, feel like failures and become anoreix or bulimic

~Instead of pressure to be thin done by media there should just be awareness made about the dangers of being overweight. People should be able to decide for themselves that they want to lose weight and not feel pressured to do so by others.

***Society thinks its a bad thing because people are being pressured, not to want to be healthier, but into feeling negativily about their current weight***


idk if whatever i said makes sense (or if any1 will bother to read all of it) but ur question is very thought provoknig so you'll probably get many other responses that are interesting

Answer 3

The pressure is to be thin, not healthy! Everyone's healthy is different. I feel best at 140 lbs (I'm 5'3), which puts me at a size five with no fat hanging over my jeans. My SIL likes to be that, but she is a good three inches taller than me. For some people, 140 is obese! Other people my height and weight are formed much different. They couldn't fit a size 5, more like a ten. It's their body shape.

Health should never be determined by weight, but overall good health. I get under 140, and I feel sickly. I'm not 'big-boned' either. I'm athletic. I think that the real push should be to eat healthy, and who cares about the wieght, because if you eat healthy, the weight will be down anyway.

Models are size 4's, and I find them odd-looking. They are so bony that they'd snap. I'd understand if they were short, but they are not. In the old days, fat was looked upon as healthy. A person wouldn't have to worry about starving todaeath if they had fat on them, and skinny people would by things to make them LOOK fatter, or else they were looked down upon. It's odd how time changes things.

Answer 4

It's a bad thing because there will always be impressionable young girls and boys that won't understand that thin isn't neccesarilly healthy. There's also the factor that 99% of people in the world are REALLY insecure, so when there's a pressure to be thin and "perfect," there are more and more anorexics instead of healthy, well balanced people. I think there SHOULD be pressure for being HEALTHY, but there should also be better education on health & nutrition, and ideal body weights for specific heights, and how much is too much, or not enough. I see what you're saying, and no it's not stupid, but there has to be a sane balance somewhere.

The biggest issue should be helping people love themselves, regardless of what they look like.

Answer 5

Maybe you're just being stupid? I think you are definitely being more than just stupid if you think that pressure to conform to any idealised body shape is helpful.
We are all individuals, we are all different, hence we have all types of body shapes. Being a uniform size would be detrimental to all. Quite simply being a healthy weight (even it that means you are seen by many as being overweight) is always better than being the size zero that teenage girls think they must be for anyone to like them.
This doesn't mean I'm saying it is alright to be obese, that is just the flip side of the same coin. Those that are seriously overweight find comfort in food because no matter how hard they try they cannot become the perfect figure, they were never designed to be thin, yet because of pressure they feel worthless and unable to be accepted by society, which in turn drives them back to food. A vicious circle that is perpetuated by the very pressure you think is a good thing.
Now remember people die of anorexia and obesity because of this pressure. I suggest you think again.

Answer 6

The only problem with the pressures to be thin is that the standards are too thin. When someone 5'8" wears a size 2, that is very thin. Most of us could never achieve that and still eat a healthy diet.

As far as the pressures to NOT be overweight, yes that is a good thing.

Answer 7

i don't think it is a bad thing for people or society to encourage being healthy (which includes having a healthy BMI). But if the emphasis is on just being thin....people are going to achieve this in unhealthy ways.

also, it is damaging when overweight and obese people are treated horribly. Especially since over eating is often a psychological response to those kind of pressures.

as a society we need to be concerned with health and acceptance at the same time. it really isn't our business if someone is overweight....unless they are asking YOU for help!

Answer 8

I don't see the problem with it. The only downfall is that it puts more emphasis on looks than health. If we could get people to focus more on the health aspect of being a healthy weight it may go over a bit better. I find the obesity rates to be absolutely disgusting and I think the whole "accept fat people" thing is making it worse. I know some people can't help it, but that percentage is very low. I don't see why I should have to accept such an unhealthy thing. If people can rank on others for smoking then why can't I rank on people for being fat?? Both are unhealthy things.

Answer 9

Because people take it too far. Actresses should not be held up as a good role model because most of them starve themselves to fit into a size 0 dress for the Oscars. That is just plain lunacy. Also, it depends on bone structure. Someone that has a large frame would look idiotic being stick thin more than someone that has a small frame. People just need to leave others alone. It doesn't hurt you if someone else has a few extra pounds.

Answer 10

Actually there are now more coverage on eating disorders which only affects about 2.5% of the US and obesity about 50% so they want to make obesity seem more "healthy" than eating disorders when its actually about the same (not the same, just that they both have heart problems and such) grab a magazine and anorexia will have more pages than obesity and that needs to be stopped immediatly. I like my size 0 models and my plus models as well just leave them both alone because we are all real, we just make different choices with our habits.