Young women risk weight gain through misconception over junk food, says Cynosure survey

Young women are ignoring the dangers of junk food while assuming that pregnancy will definitely have a negative impact on their body shape, new research shows.

An independent survey carried out by body contouring specialists Cynosure, asked 500 women aged 18-64 what they thought would have a long-term negative impact on their body shape.

Surprisingly, the top response from 18-24 year olds was ‘pregnancy’ — an area that many of the women in this age group are unlikely to have experienced, as verified by The Office for National Statistics*.

Likewise, the second most popular response from the 18-24 sector was ‘divorce’, according to the leading light-based aesthetic and medical treatment company. However, official data** shows that the divorce rates for women under the age of 24 are minimal.

These factors highlight that younger women are voting according to assumption as opposed to experience.  

The category that received the least amount of votes from the 18-24 age group was ‘junk food’— suggesting that the respondents didn’t believe it would have a negative impact on their body shape.

In contrast, junk food came out top for ages 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64, receiving the most overall votes in the survey (59.2%).

Interestingly, the areas that received the least amount of votes amongst the more mature respondents were ‘pregnancy’ and ‘divorce’.

Tellingly, these older age groups are likely to have been through one of both of these life events, and the answers may come from personal experience.

This highlights that junk food is recognised amongst women for creating a negative impact on body shape, and younger women would be advised to acknowledge this.

Stress also factored highly in the responses from women over 35, taking the second highest vote overall.

Fiona Comport from Cynosure says: “It is commonly known that it becomes increasingly difficult for women over 35 to maintain a streamlined figure, namely down to the change in hormone levels after this age. With this in mind, it is essential to act early to help delay the onset of stubborn fat. Avoiding junk food is so important for young women, because even though they may not be currently experiencing the effects of a poor diet, over time they will.”

The overall survey results are set out below and the full report is available at: https://sculpsure.co.uk/news-media/negative-impact-body-shape-reality-v-perception/

 

* According to National Statistics recorded in 2016, 125,072 women under 25 gave birth in England and Wales as opposed to 571, 199 aged over 25.

* Out of 114,720 divorces in England and Wales in 2013 (the most recent statistics on record), only 1,897 involved women under the age of 24.