Teenage girls love plastic surgery

A new study conducted in Australia concerning drugs, sex and surgery trends reveals that a quarter of teenage girls say they would get plastic surgery if they could, and 2 percent admitted that they have already gone under the knife.

Four thousand girls aged 11 to 18 took part in the study and most of them are unhappy with their bodies in general and their weight in particular. Almost 60 percent wanted to lose weight so badly, and 45 percent said they knew someone who has an eating disorder.

One out of four teenage girls who were questioned or 27 percent of the total sample size said that they would get plastic surgery if they can afford it, and 2 percent already had their makeovers done.

Of course, these figures deserve some negative reaction from experts. According to Dr. Jenny O’Dea, an associate professor of child and adolescent health at the University of Sydney, the figure may appear small but it was actually very significant.

“I think the whole trend towards plastic surgery is very worrying because there’s a big myth that it can actually build true self esteem,” said Dr. O’Dea. She also speculated that teens are so into boob jobs these days, believing that it could solve their self-esteem problems.

“In the long term, what makes teenage girls really happy are their friends, their relationships and what they do with their lives — nothing to do with how they look,” O’Dea added.

She also mentioned that many of these girls would carry their worrying self-image issues into adulthood and would pass these on to their own children.

“That is why more needs to be done to try to break this cycle,” O’Dea finally added.