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SCMP Reporter

'Guaranteed 10-pound weight loss and a beautiful model figure.'

You can see similar claims in newspapers and TV ads every day.

Teenage girls all want to be as slim as the stars, and will try anything to lose weight, such as crash dieting or taking pills, but this can be very dangerous.

They eat less; usually they skip breakfast, and maybe they omit regular meals altogether.

Apart from tolerating hunger, they may suffer headaches, insomnia and dizziness.

If they keep on dieting, they may be in danger of developing anorexia nervosa.

Do not underestimate the dangers of this illness; it can be fatal.

Anorexics no longer want to eat and become thinner and thinner until they die if no treatment is received.

Bulemia is another medical condition associated with attempts to lose weight at the expense of good health.

Unlike patients who suffer from anorexia, bulemic patients go on food binges, but throw up the food immediately after eating.

Girls may also take pills which supposedly help the slimming effect, but do you really believe you can safely lose weight with just several small pills? Think again.

These pills may harm your heart or other organs, and can disrupt a woman's normal menstrual cycle.

There is also the risk of becoming so weak from under-nourishment that people no longer have enough energy to work, and become too enervated to do anything.

They may feel that they have lost direction in life and eventually become depressed, losing interest in everything around them.

Combining all these feelings, their self-esteem may drop lower and lower.

However, as Hong Kong is mainly a Chinese society, the girls may not easily share their feelings. They only feel no one understands them, and suicide as a way out is not uncommon.

Being slim is not the only way to show your own beauty; your healthy spirit and body can do that too.

If you've already fallen into bad eating habits, do something about it - immediately.

Carmen is a student at Kit Sam Lam Bing Yim Secondary School.



Health outweighs need to be skinny