Return of 2000s fashions spark debate over extreme thinness

Wearing saint tropez pants that leave the belly button out has been keeping teenagers awake at an earlier age. The return of the low waist and microskirts of the 2000s, as well as the trend towards extreme thinness among celebrities, has worried doctors and activists.

Student Sabrina Menezes Santos, 15, bought a model of the pants, but she still didn’t have the courage to use it and even entered the gym to improve what she saw in the mirror.

“I don’t wear anything with a low waist, I couldn’t. I think the body is not good, and that people will be looking and judging. I wasn’t comfortable”, says Santos. The teenager has a BMI (body mass index) that is considered healthy, but says that being thin is a recurring topic in conversations with friends and cousins ​​and that many of them also don’t like their own bodies.

Influencer Clara Cocozza, 17, went viral when she made a humorous video with the criticism she received about her own weight. “People always criticized me for being fat and I took it to social networks. I received a lot of supportive comments and at that time I wasn’t very happy with myself”, she says.

She then started following body positive influencers, a movement focused on accepting all bodies as they are, and looking at herself more often in the mirror.

“I decided to love myself and it worked. Fat girls can wear whatever they want, anyone can, it’s the pattern that prevents us from wearing them”, says Cocozza, who loves low-waist pants and has already made three videos about this type of garment. .

The return of models from the 2000s, added to the trend of extreme thinness among celebrities, appears at a time when eating disorders are on the rise. Studies have shown worsening symptoms of patients with disorders after the pandemic, and Brazilian outpatient clinics observe an increase in the number of visits.

In the countryside and in the capital of São Paulo, two of the most important care centers had a high demand for treatments for young people.

At Grata (Group for Assistance in Eating Disorders), the average age of those treated was between 15 and 18 years old, but now there are patients from 10 to 13 years old. The multidisciplinary group is linked to the nutrology outpatient clinic of the HC-FMRP (Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto) of the USP (University of São Paulo)

“More cases have arrived and they draw attention because they are increasingly younger people, especially with anorexia nervosa, which is a serious malnutrition and is at risk of death”, says physician Vivian Marques Miguel Suen, 57, professor of nutrition at FMRP-USP and coordinator of Grata.

The outpatient waiting list doubled in the last year, jumping from 15 to 30 people. The group sees about 15 patients at a time, only the most extreme and already diagnosed cases. Treatment, when successful and without abandonment, takes an average of 3 to 5 years.

The Ambulim (Eating Disorders Program) of the Psychiatry Institute of the Hospital das Clínicas of the USP School of Medicine in the capital has three full classes and there has been an increase in demand for treatment for children.

The unit currently has 2,116 questionnaires filled out on the website awaiting medical evaluation to confirm an eating disorder. Classes are limited and treatment takes about 32 weeks.

For Fábio Tapia Salzano, 53, a psychiatrist and deputy coordinator of Ambulim, it is necessary to raise awareness of the media, modeling agencies and influencers. “These are excesses in the pursuit of thinness that is actually malnutrition”, he says.

Suen says that eating disorders are multifactorial and chronic, but they usually start after an episode of bullying at school or seeing the thin beauty standard on social media, something that can still get worse with the behavior of the parents themselves.

“When it comes to the diagnosis of anorexia and bulimia, treatment is very difficult, a single professional does not treat alone. Often it is necessary to treat the family, not just the patient”, explained Suen. Therapy, in these cases, involves a psychologist, psychiatrist, occupational therapist, nutritionist and nutritionist.

Social media can indicate the beginning of the problem, as young people with eating disorders exchange information about how to lose weight by vomiting or taking medication, and how to avoid parental questions online.

“Food has a lot to do with affection. If, on a daily basis, the child skips food, eats less and has a lot of trips to the bathroom after meals, these may be the first signs and it is important to get therapeutic help”, says Patricia Capuani, family therapist and director of socio-emotional at Colégio Novo in Ribeirão Preto.

Model and activist Letticia Muniz, 32, was a teenager in the 2000s and developed bulimia to get thin and have a TV career. “There was no one talking about the body. If you turned on any channel, everyone was thin, all the magazines showed us that only that was right”, she says.

At the age of 28, already on Instagram, Muniz saw an overweight woman who he thought was beautiful – the American plus-size model Ashley Graham.

“This woman posted a picture of simply existing and being happy and freed me from an 18 year prison. My mind exploded and I saw that I no longer had to fight who I was. I went through it alone and today, as an influencer, I help other girls.” , says Muniz.

For the activist, who launched a collection for grown-ups in partnership with the Vista Magalu brand, allowing women of different body shapes to access different types of clothes makes all the difference, but the standard is still a risk.

“Fashion is made by thin people and for thin people. The woman is there on that path of loving herself, accepting herself and this movement comes that says: ‘it’s not for you'”, says Muniz.

The model says she wears a low waist, but adapted to her own body. “It’s not about beauty or being able to use it, looking ugly or not, it’s the discomfort it causes us. I look for what makes me feel beautiful”, concludes the activist.