The old adage, beauty is only skin deep, does not mean much in our society today. Magazines overflow with pages of unbelievably gorgeous size two models. Teenage girls emulate the fashion trends and the beauty tricks that fill the pages of Seventeen, Glamour and Teen Magazines.

A lack of confidence and an unhealthy self-image can lead people down the wrong path. At the young age of 13, girls and boys start looking in the mirror and painfully criticize themselves-comparing their images to those of the beautiful and thin, airbrushed women and men that grace the pages of their favorite magazines.

Excessive dieting, diet pills and eating disorders are just a few of the ways women and men try to lose weight today. It seems we all want to be thinner, more toned, or just lose that last stubborn 10 pounds.

The messages sent from the media imply that thin is in and being thin is more attractive than having a curvaceous body. But what price are we willing to pay to look good?

Many people have paid the ultimate price by tragically losing their lives to eating disorders. Millions of women are prisoners of anorexia nervosa or bulimia.

Eating disorders do not discriminate. Approximately one million men also suffer from an eating disorder.

Eating disorders can be caused by a lack of self-confidence, a struggle for control and ultimately, it can be about power.

Someone struggling with an eating disorder may also have problems with drug or alcohol abuse.

He or she may have been physically or sexually abused.

Eating disorders are very complex Ð much more complicated than the decision to eat or not to eat.

Other people try diet pills in hopes of curbing their appetite or increasing their metabolism. They don't plan for the consequential permanent health problems or addictions.

Even men and women who try to slim down the healthy way, with sensible eating habits and exercise, can fall into the traps of excessive dieting and exercise bulimia.

A perfect size or weight does not exist.

In today's society what should determine beauty is confidence, character and the goodness in a person's heart.

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