Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . The cartoon poked fun at a teenager who worried constantly about her weight and felt guilty about eating a satisfying hamburger. Eating disorders are the third most common illness among adolescent girls in the United States, according to a 1998 report by the American Medical Association.
Boys have their share of troubles, too.
While girls want to become wispy, boys want to become Hulk-like, with muscular shoulders and massive necks. She suggests a two-fold approach. There are a lot of mothers who are defining themselves by what they're not. And fathers, too, can fall into that trap. Second, she says, parents can give their children a strong dose of skepticism about whether the models on the pages of Sassy, say, represent a realistic ideal.