Teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin. They are led to believe that the only way they can be accepted and fit in, is if they are thin. They resort to starving, vomiting and eating only diet foods to try and be thin. Television is a big influence on them. They watch shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place and feel they need to look as thin as the actresses on these shows. Society is brainwashing young people into believing that being thin is important and necessary. Diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens telling us that once we lose the weight, we will be happy. While your standing in the check out line at the grocery store you are surrounded by magazines claiming to have the newest and best diet. Each month another new diet appears claiming to be the diet to end ail diets. Whatever happened to last month's diets that claimed the same thing? Dieting has become an obsession in North America. We spend billions of dollars each year trying to look the way society tells us we need to look. If diets really worked, then why are there so many of them? The reason a new diet pops up each month, is because last' s month' s diets did not work. You know, the ones that claimed to really work. The troth of the matter is that DIETS DON' T WORK. The diet and fashion industries are not totally to blame for society's obsession with thinness. We are the ones keeping them in business. We buy into the idea that we can attain the 'ideal' body image. We allow ourselves to believe the lies being thrown at us constantly. We buy their magazines, diet books and products, hoping that this time they will work. We are throwing away our hard earned money trying to live up to the standards that society has set for us. It's unfortunate, but in today's society, people have forgotten that it's what's inside a person that counts, not what's on the outside. We need to start loving and accepting each other for who we are, not what we look like. Next time you decide that you are going to start another diet because you feel you are too fat, stop, sign up for a self-esteem class instead. That would be money well spent. If we learn to love and accept ourselves, we will also begin to love our bodies, no matter what size we are. Once again, I would like to stress the fact that diets don't work. Eating three healthy meals a day, a few snacks and doing moderate exercise, will allow your body to go to it's natural set point. It's important to remember that no food will make you fat, as long as it's eaten in moderation. Stop buying those fashion magazines and diet products, and stop believing ail the lies being told to you by the fashion and diet industries. Instead, focus on learning to love and accept yourself. No number on a scale and fitting into a smaller dress size will not make you happy. Happiness can only come from within. What are Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place?