Nearly half of Israeli adolescents define themselves as fat regardless of their weight, a study conducted at the Western Galilee College reveals.
The survey was conducted by Dr. Bracha Katz Sheiban of the Department of Criminology, who is a specialist on suicidal behaviors, among 323 male and female seventh to 12th graders.
The study's goal was to examine whether adolescents who define themselves as fat are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders than adolescents who define themselves as thin.
The study found that 47% of Israeli teenagers are unhappy with their weight, and that 30% of them would like to lose more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds).
An examination of the respondents' attitudes and conduct towards eating shows that 6% of adolescents are at a high risk of developing anorexia, and that this disorder is most likely to break out between the ages of 14 and 18, with girls being at a higher risk of developing eating disorders than boys.
According to Dr. Katz-Sheiban, "The fact that modern society links different positive traits to an attractive and thin external appearance serves as a foundation for the development of eating disorders, especially among girls.
"Skinniness symbolizes self-control, refinement and restrained cultural passions, while fatness symbolizes laziness and giving in to pleasures and different passions," she says.
Dr. Katz-Sheiban believes "it is important to initiate plans for preventing eating disorders, dealing with the issues of health, nutrition, and self-esteem, with will include a reference to the cultural dimension that glorifies the ritual of thinness, by developing critical thinking towards messages from the media."
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