Dear Ann Landers,
recently attended my niece's ninth birthday party, along with 16 of her classmates. The boys were talking about school and vacation plans and telling jokes. The girls were having a heated discussion on who was "fat" and who was "skinny." They dis-cussed diets and were critical of the girls with weight problems. I was so disgusted I left the room. I wanted to tell those girls that it's what's inside a person that counts, but I realized there was no way to undo in a few sentences what our culture has done to them since the day they were born. When will the media and other powerful elements in our society stop insisting that thinness is ideal? Why are women judged by what they weigh while men are judged by what they accomplish and how much money they make? It is estimated that one out of five female college students suffers from an eating disorder. I do not want my niece or any other young girl to become a statistic. Female students with eating disorders can-not concentrate on schoolwork. Working women with eating disor-ders cannot concentrate on their jobs. The equality women have fought for won't mean a thing if there are no healthy women around to enjoy it. These young girls learn from television to emulate supermodels who weigh, on average, 23 percent less than a normal American woman. My 9-year-old niece is not interested in boys. She is trying to be thin because society has taught her that she will not be accepted any other way. Please address this issue, Ann. -Concerned Aunt in N.J.

Dear N.J. Aunt,
I share your concern that it is unhealthy for a 9- year-old to be so preoccupied with her weight. The current mania to be thin, thin, thin has affected females of all ages. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is by changing eating habits and incorporating exercise into the daily routine-permanently. Young, healthy girls should not be dieting. If they exercise regularly and eat well-balanced, nutritious meals, that should be sufficient. I see no realistic solution to this problem, since the obsession to be pencil-thin is inherent in our culture. How unfortunate.