The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams has given her backing to the Federal Party’s ‘Real Women’ airbrushing in advertising campaign. The online campaign is also backed by the National Centre for Eating Disorders, Girlguiding UK and leading academies.
The campaign is encouraging people to complain to the Advertising Standards Agency and the Committee of Advertising Practice about adverts which portray unrealistic and unhealthy body images. The campaign also seeks a ban on adverts aimed at under-16s using digital retouching to portray unrealistic body images.
Beat, the leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families, estimate that there are 58,000 people in Wales suffering from eating disorders and the numbers are increasing.
Speaking about the campaign, Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:
“Media images of women are often unrealistic and unattainable and place an enormous amount of pressure on women to aim for perfection. This pressure creates body image issues and can contribute to eating disorders. Working against airbrushing in advertising would protect young women and girls from becoming susceptible to this pressure.”
“This campaign is a step in the right direction in the fight against eating disorders but more work needs to be done. We need to educate young children about the dangers of eating disorders and this education should form part of the school curriculum. We also need to ensure that adequate funding is available for the effective specialist treatment of people with eating disorders.”
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