Researcher Sabelo Nxumalo from the Department of Human Movement Science at the University of Zululand says more than half of the participants in the study were starving themselves or skipping meals in an effort to be smaller. Nxumalo says when body mass index (BMI) tests were conducted on the women, more than half of them turned out to be overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) or obese (BMI higher than 30) but none of them were concerned with losing weight for health reasons as much as they were concerned with looking good.

Excess weight leads to lifestyle diseases
It is currently estimated that 45 percent of South Africans are overweight and the incidence of obesity is higher amongst black women. Being overweight and obese are the main causes of lifestyle diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart attacks and strokes, which are on the increase amongst black people.

And while some women may be trying to improve their eating habits, lose weight and exercise regularly to avoid falling prey to these life-threatening illnesses, it seems the majority of women, like the participants of the University of Zululand study, are going to extraordinary and even dangerous lengths to be thin.

Nhlanhla Sithole*, 25, says a recent test revealed that her BMI sits at 29, which means she is overweight and on the border of being obese. "I need to be 22 on the BMI scale in order to be healthy. So I need to lose at least 15kg. My goal is to be a size 34," she explains.

She doesn't deny the driving force behind her need to shed the extra kilograms is more about looking good.

In an effort to lose weight Nhlanhla has tried almost every trick in the book and is now seriously considering liposuction. Nhlanhla's says she now has her heart set on surgery. "It's about more than just wanting to lose weight. I hate my shape and I want to change it. If I could afford it I would have had liposuction by now. But surgery is a long-term goal. I think liposuction would help change my shape because even if I lose weight I'm still pear-shaped. I think Jessica Alba has the perfect body."

Nhlanhla's reasons for wanting to be thin are identical to those collected from the women in the University of Zululand study. The four main reasons they cited for wanting to lose weight were, the lack of fashionable clothes in their sizes; peer and societal pressure; media influence; and, more interestingly, the feeling of empowerment, which means they have the right to pick their size.

Low level of self-acceptance
In Sarah Duguid's article, The Body Politic (The Guardian, 30 April 2004), Professor Christopher Szabo, head of clinical psychiatry at the University of the Witwatersrand, says there is a link between empowerment and self-acceptance, which may go some way to explaining the rise in body dissatisfaction amongst black women in South Africa that is reflected in research over the last 10 years. "There is an inverse relationship between empowerment and self-acceptance. At a time when women are experiencing such a high level of empowerment, there is a very low level of self-acceptance. It's a contradiction."

In other words, the more liberated or economically emancipated women become, the more likely they are going to want to be thin. This trend goes against traditional African culture where wealth is associated with a voluptuous figure amongst both sexes. Prof Szabo says his research of a decade ago amongst rural and urban black women, showed that rural women were generally satisfied with their body image as opposed to their urban counterparts.

Image influenced by the media
Sbongile Mdletshe*, 26, has been a yoyo dieter since she was 14. She is also a recovering bulimic. Her current BMI reading is a healthy 20, yet she is working towards losing 10kg that she claims she's gained through inactivity over the last few months – so she can weigh a skeletal 47kg. Sbongile says her quest to be thin is influenced by the media and society. "To a certain extent the media plays a role in the way I think. If they didn't show me all those great bodies, I guess I wouldn't be that bugged by it all. I want to look like Sarah Jessica Parker – she's perfect and her body is toned. But at the same time, the people around me also influence me."

Sbongile is currently on a very low calorie two-week crash diet. Her plan is to lose the weight through rigorous dieting before going to gym. “My goal weight is 47kg but if I reach 50kg I'll be fine. At the moment I'm a size 34. A worst-case scenario is if I balloon to a size 36 or have to wear size medium underwear. That's my worst nightmare. If I struggle to lose weight or gain weight when I'm older, I'll have liposuction but I won't be fat."