Everyone, from the government to celebrities and catwalk models, have been blamed for the current obsession with size zero.

Despite the negative publicity size zero attracts, women still aspire to become thin or thinner than they currently are.Everyone, from the government to celebrities and catwalk models, have been blamed for the current obsession with size zero. Despite the negative publicity size zero attracts, women still aspire to become thin or thinner than they currently are.



Recent surveys have shown that eating disorders have increased, particularly among women aged over 30. Apparently 70 percent of women over 40 hate their bodies. What a sad indictment of today's society. The majority of women will never achieve a size zero but this won't stop them trying.

Women have always been noticed for their figures and the quest for slimness is nothing new. Over the decades there have been countless famous thin women. Back in the 1930's Wallace Simpson famously declared "you can never be too rich or too thin." Everyone idolised the beautiful but super slim Audrey Hepburn in the 1950's. The swinging 60's brought us ultra skinny models, most notably, Twiggy.

Frequently magazine covers use shock style headlines to grab our attention with catch lines such as "celebrity airhead wasting away," or "fears grow for shrinking starlet." The fact that magazines consistently feature pictures of skinny celebrities or new diets, shows that they are attracting high sales. Magazines provide us with a glimpse into how celebrities manage their weight or diets. They provide hope that we too can achieve a body like theirs.

With constant dieting, women often develop an unhealthy relationship with food. This is accentuated by endless promises of miracle diets or advertisements showing impossibly perfect, but heavily airbrushed, models.

So what is it about the magical size zero that has us all so intrigued? Perhaps it's the fact that it's the smallest size (God forbid manufacturers' start making minus sizes). Once we've reached zero that's it.

We've done it. We can go no smaller, we are the smallest. Hooray. No more dieting. But what next?
As dieters all too often experience, once they've reached their target weight and return to normal eating patterns, the weight piles back on. Upon reaching a size zero, the task of remaining such a size becomes impossibly hard. It's a constant battle of restricting food while increasing exercise. If you are not naturally that size then it will always be difficult to remain thin.

Then there's the problem finding clothes that fit. Very few retailers stock clothes in a size zero and often the children's clothing department is the only option.

Recent television documentaries have featured celebrities undertaking the challenge to shrink to a size zero. These have outlined how extremely restrictive their diet must become. After reaching the desired zero, they were only too happy to return to their normal diets.

Scarily, many experienced a common sentiment. Upon returning to their normal weights, they discovered they preferred their thinner body. No more worry about spare tires or squeezing into skinny jeans. None of them started off overweight, but after becoming a size zero, they were dissatisfied with their old body shapes. Their new battle was to accept their previous body shape and natural weight. Without the support provided by the documentary makers, they could well have found themselves with very real eating disorders.

Celebrities attaining the status of size zero are subjected to enormous amounts of criticism from the press. Counter arguments are given in favour of well endowed women, insisting that men prefer curves. All this is subjective of course. Men like all different sizes of women. Unless the western world suffers a major food shortage, I can't see society ever promoting the larger figure as an ideal.
Women will continue to put themselves under pressure to be what they believe society expects, particularly if the press and television continue to devote pages and broadcasting hours to body shapes and diets.

Size zero should never have been created. It's totally pointless, unattainable for the majority and should never be promoted as something to aspire to. Clothing size is personal to each individual and is their own business.

And to those that are a size zero, do they broadcast their clothing size to whoever will listen? I very much doubt it. People are far too caught up in their own lives to pay much attention to the skinny girls who pass by them in the street. They may briefly register the fact, then move on.
To those who are striving to achieve a size zero, stop. It's simply not worth the time, effort and misery that you'll go through to get there. You'll get thanks and praise from no-one. Why bother!