The world
Rachel Phipps
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
If I were in charge of the world, I'd alter the mindset of people in the developed world into thinking they are perfect just the way they are.
Did you know that in 1970 the average age of a girl who started dieting was 14, but by 1990 the average dieting age fell to only eight years old? Or that young girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of a nuclear war, being diagnosed with cancer or losing their parents? These statistics scare me even after reading them hundreds of times. Are there really people, girls just like me, who think like that?
In the summer of 2008 I started the campaign Who Wants to be a Size Zero Anyway? on www.battlefront.co.uk. It is a website run by Channel 4 where people can get advice on running a campaign and upload it to the site to get others involved. The aim of my campaign is to make women feel happier about themselves and more positive about their body image.
When I started my campaign, if someone had asked what I wanted to achieve I'd have said "to stamp out size zero". But I'm wiser now. Its not the size that needs changing - it's a mindset. So if I could change the world I wouldn't - I'd change people's minds instead.
- Do you know a child or young person who could tell adults a thing or two? Email lauren.higgs@haymarket.com or call her on 020 8267 4918.
