Fat - that's the last thing image-conscious youth want to be seen as.

But the obsession with looking slim and by association - beautiful, has caused a lot of young people to become victims of eating disorders and an unhealthy attitude towards food and eating.

A Feb 20, 2008 article in The Straits Times' Mind Your Body highlighted the case of a young man who dropped out of school after he became too ill to continue. He was battling a severe eating disorder that made him underweight and unhealthy.

The Singapore General Hospital reported in February 2008 that it sees an average of 140 new cases every year, but only 10 to 20 per cent of sufferers are seeking treatment.

A study published by the Singapore Medical Journal in 2005 showed that cases of eating disorders have increased by 60 per cent since 2002. The typical Singaporean sufferer is a single, teenage female student.

As images of svelte actresses such as Zoe Tay and Fann Wong are splashed across beauty and fashion spreads, it is no surprise that young girls with susceptible minds fall victim to the ideal that "slim is in" - and then try to achieve their figures through crash diets and other unhealthy eating habits.

But it is not just mass media that have created a culture of thin-ness. Youngsters begin to develop eating disorders at an average age of 15, a time when most are still in school. Programmes such as TAF (Trim and Fit) identify students who are obese and subject them to fitness regimes to get them within their ideal weight range. Such students are also receiving messages from authoritative channels that fat is bad.

So it is timely that magazines such as Seventeen Singapore, published by SPH Magazines, have adopted the year-long Seventeen Body Peace Project campaign on Feb 25, 2008. With celebrity ambassadors like Electrico's Amanda Ling, Radio 91.3's Rod Monteiro and Denise Tan, theatre veteran Hossan Leong, singer Paul Twohill, model/host Stephanie Carrington, and Team Singapore Sports Idols 2007/8 Deborah Ong and Tao Yi Jun supporting this event, the aim is to inspire and encourage young people to have a positive body image of themselves.

Sasha Gonzales, Deputy Editor, Seventeen Singapore, said: "We have chosen these personalities because they are very much a part of Singapore's youth culture. These personalities possess a positive and healthy body image. Besides being active and fit, they project what we like to call 'body confidence'. In this respect, therefore, we feel that they are excellent examples for our local youth."

In conjunction with the Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) that ended on March 1, the Seventeen Body Peace Treaty aims to inspire and encourage a positive body image among young girls.

Seventeen encourages young women to commit to treating their bodies with love and respect. They can sign the Seventeen Body Peace Treaty on the website: www.seventeen.com/bodypeace and help add to the million signatures that are needed all around the world.