In the glitzy world of show business, you're only successful if you're beautiful, and you're only beautiful if you're thin.
Celebrities who have put on weight are derided by the media, and photos in magazines are often digitally-enhanced to make the models slimmer, prettier and more 'perfect'.
The pressure on teenage girls to look good is incredible, perhaps more so now in this image-obsessed world.
And a large part of looking good is being thin.
I know this is true. I'm 18 and I've been there.
And it's not just the Paris Hiltons and the Kate Mosses of the world who propagate this image; the pressure is also put on us, perhaps unintentionally, by our peers.
I think I'm FAT. I'm 1.68m tall and weigh about 58kg. And yet I'm reminded that I am 'not thin enough' more often than I would like to be.
When I walk into a clothing store, I look for the tags with L on them, or a US size 8. I can't wear all the minuscule size S skirts that others seem to be able to squeeze themselves into.
And it's not only clothing, it's the chatter that goes on around me too.
The self-esteem of a teenage girl is fragile, and a passing remark or a subtle hint is enough to shatter our self-image.
Sometimes these deadly remarks are sugar-coated: 'You're not fat, you're just big. Don't worry, you have heavy bones.'
Remarks like that don't help and are damaging to our self-esteem.
Although we may outwardly laugh it off and be good sports, we start to question ourselves nonetheless: Are we pretty enough? Are we good enough? Are we worthy?
I've had people tell me that I would be prettier if I lost weight. My boyfriend tells me that he would like me better if I were more toned.
Why can't people take a leaf from singer Billy Joel's song: '...I like you just the way you are'?
Even if people don't tell it to my face, the fact is that good looks equal win.
When teenagers are bored, they sit around and play games like Shoot, Shag, Marry, where three names of the opposite gender are thrown out and the player has to pick one for each consequence.
Naturally, the pretty girls are never shot, while the ones with 'character' are the first to go down.
Even though being slighted in a childish game may not seem like a big deal, it can trigger off another bout of self-doubt and self-depreciation.
The same is true for all other horrendous teenage pastimes like Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle.
Such comparisons and competitions have even spilled over into the cyber arena. For example, on Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking site, there are applications called Hotness and Compare People.
This culture of THIN has even spawned websites and online communities dedicated to helping young girls lose weight.
Photos of painfully underweight celebs such as Mary-Kate Olsen are posted, to serve as "thinspiration" for others. Members also bandy about phrases like 'nothing will taste as good as being thin', and congratulate each other on their skeletal frames.
You just can't escape a cultural notion that is so all-encompassing.
Even a girl with the most resilient self-esteem and the most positive self-image is bound to get worn down eventually.
I have a friend who I've never seen eat more than a cupcake. She's deathly thin, but is still convinced that she's 'damn fat'.
At mealtimes, she nurses a packet of Milo, and then insists that she's full.
I have another friend who can't finish her food, no matter how small the portion is.
She tells me that she starts to feel nauseous when she looks at the last few spoonfuls of rice on her plate.
This is definitely more of a psychological problem than a physical one - it has been drilled into some girls that it's "unladylike" to finish their food, and God forbid they should ask for a second helping.
I've felt the pressure to lose weight too, to be one of those waifish supermodel types who can languidly laze on the beach in a bikini top and too-short denim shorts.
How anorexics and bulimics differ
Many young people unfortunately believe that looking thin - and therefore 'stylish' - is a major way to maintaining self-worth.
Unfor-
tunately they might take this too far and end up with eating disorders.
'Two of the more common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa,' says Dr Lee Huei Yen, consultant, Department of Psychiatry at the Singapore General Hospital.
Anorexics and bulimics both suffer from body-image distortion, an intense fear of weight gain.
However, they both differ in that while bulimic patients are of a normal weight, an anorexic refuses to maintain a weight above 85 per cent of what is expected for her height.
Also, while the modal age of onset of anorexia is 15, bulimia usually strikes in late adolescence or early adult life.
Anorexic sufferers may refuse to eat certain foods, make consistent excuses to avoid mealtimes and exercise excessively.
Bulimic sufferers, on the other hand, binge eat, then purge. Purging includes self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, fasting and excessive exercise.
Both eating disorders are 10 times more common in females than males.
The onset of anorexia is also 12 times more likely if a nuclear family member has it, and four times more likely for bulimia.
'Eating disorders are caused by the interaction of many factors,' says DrLee.
These factors may be biological, psychological, family or social factors.
'People with eating disorders also tend to be perfectionists and high achievers with unrealistic expectations of themselves,' adds Dr Lee.
'They may also have overprotective families who are ineffective at resolving conflict.'
It doesn't matter if such an ideal is unrealistic or unattainable, it is still the goal of almost every teenage girl.
Logic loses power The pressure to be perfect is so suffocating that I feel guilty after I eat a heavy meal. Sometimes this feeling is so overwhelming that I forcibly disgorge whatever I've just eaten.
I know that it's unhealthy and I know that there are less harmful ways to shed weight - but logic loses power in the face of such a staggeringly warped self-image.
As much as I can rationally tell myself that I'm not hugely obese, my figure flaws are amplified every time I look into the mirror.
I see: Too short. Thick waist. Flabby arms. Wobbly thighs.
I don't think any young woman is completely pleased with the way she looks, and this lack of self-love can sometimes be downright frightening.
Perceptions become twisted, creating fodder for destructive self-loathing and even self-harm.
The really scary thing is that unless society suddenly decides to give up glorifying reed-thin glamazons, this is not going to change.
And from the looks of things, the tabloids are not going to stop laughing at Britney's new body anytime soon.
In the face of this insane pressure to be beautiful, what's a girl to do?As much as I want to say 'love yourself and love your body', I know it's not that easy.
For now, all I can offer is this: You're not alone.
