The media's influence on society has been partially blamed for the steady rise in eating disorders found

in American teenage girls. According to recent studies, the rate of anorexic girls has increased at alarming rates since the mid 1980's. And while anorexia was once said to be a "white-collar" disorder, it is becoming more and more common in African countries, in China and Japan. The desire to diet is also affecting younger and younger girls as well. Seven out of ten fourth grade girls surveyed responded that they had tried to diet or considered themselves overweight.

The impact that today's body image standard is having on women and teens is immeasurable.

The increasing numbers of diagnosed cases of eating disorders in noticeably on the rise; but is the media totally to blame? Many say that this is the case. The image of a desirable woman portrayed by the media has drastically changed in the recent years that anorexia has come to be such a national concern.

In the 1950's when anorexia had barely been discovered, the images projected in magazines and billboards were much different. Marilyn

Some common words found in the essay are:
Marilyn Monroe, Kate Moss, China Japan, , France England, body image, eating disorders, thin women, eating disorder, society culture, image women, average woman,
Approximate Word count = 678
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)