As of 2014, the weight-loss market reached 69.8 billion dollars, according to Marketdata, a trade group providing research and analysis to the weight-loss industry. www.bharatbook.com
Sixty-nine billion dollars is more than the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 63% of all the nations in the world, including the entire countries of Guatemala, Kenya, or Lebanon. en.wikipedia.org
Forty to sixty percent of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat. This concern endures through life (Smolak, 2011). Body Image 2nd ed, www.books.google.com
The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 165 pounds. The average Miss America winner is 5’7” and weighs 121 pounds (Martin, 2010).
Over half of the females studied between ages eighteen and twenty-five would prefer to be run over by a truck than to be fat, and two-thirds would choose to be mean or stupid rather than fat. Emotions and Eating, www.books.google.com
A survey of college students found that they would prefer to marry an embezzler, drug user, shoplifter, or blind person than someone who is fat. Emotions and Eating, www.books.google.com
During puberty, most girls’ bodies need to gain, on average, ten inches and forty to fifty pounds, including more body fat. www.livestrong.com
Half of teenage girls and one-quarter of teenage boys are dissatisfied with their bodies regardless of their weight, height, or shape. These numbers are higher in those whose weight puts them in the medical category of “overweight.” www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Forty percent of teenagers deemed heavier than average experience teasing by peers and/or family members. Such teasing accurately predicts weight gain, binge eating, and extreme weight-control behaviors. www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Females need seventeen percent body fat in order to menstruate for the first time and twenty-two percent to have regular cycles. www.livestrong.com
Up to thirty-five percent of normal dieters will progress to pathological dieting and, of those, twenty to twenty-five percent will progress to partial or full-blown eating disorders. www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
From 1999 to 2006, hospitalizations for eating disorders increased 119% for children younger than twelve years. www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
The death rate for eating disorders is four to five percent. That is twelve times higher than the average rate of mortality for females aged fifteen to twenty-four years. Reasons for death include starvation, substance abuse, and suicide. Those suffering from eating disorders also have higher rates of death from other causes such as cancer. www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
For more statistics on dieting, body image, and eating disorders, visit NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association).
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