54% of women would rather be hit by a truck than be fat. (www.goldinc.com/gogirls)

The average American woman is 5’4” tall, weights 140 lbs, and wears a size 12 or 14.

Barbie, the best selling fashion doll in the world, has unattainable and unhealthy body proportions. If she were alive, her waist would be smaller than patients with anorexia nervosa, and she would be unable to menstruate.

1 in 4 women have avoided engaging in a physical activity or sport because they feel badly about the way they look.

81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat. 51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. (Mellin LM, Irwin CE & Scully S, 1992)

Seventy percent of young women say they want to look like a TV character.

Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women. (Smolak, 1996)

More statistics can be found online at http://www.endfattalk.org/stats.html

As a member of Delta Delta Delta, I’m proud to promote Fat Talk Free Week 2009 (Oct 19 – 23), an international, 5-day body activism campaign to draw attention to body image issues and the damaging impact of the ‘thin ideal’ on women in society. This 2^nd annual public awareness effort was borne from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections.

Photo Credit © Jose Antonio Sánchez Reyes | Dreamstime.com

Tags: body, Image, self image, self-confidence, weight