AM BACKS "TRUE BEAUTY" COMPETITION

NATIONAL Assembly Member for Monmouth, Nick Ramsay, is supporting a competition in which members of the public are being asked to submit pictures of what they consider to be real beauty in order to challenge the pressures on people to join the size-zero culture that leads many to eating disorders.

The competition, run in conjunction with Dove Self Esteem, will conclude during Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 23rd - 27th), when the top 40 photographs will be displayed at the National Assembly for Wales.

A blog called www.eatingdisorderswales.blogspot.com has been launched to outline details of the competition and to showcase blogs from sufferers, past sufferers and those involved in the campaign in Wales in the run up to the event.

Speaking today, local AM Nick said:"These days we are bombarded with images of stylised, stereotypical beautiful people; but they don't seem to match up to the beauty we can see in everyday life in our families and friends.

"Unfortunately for some, consuming media that shows a narrow view on beauty can lead to negative feelings about personal body image and then on to eating disorders.

"It's estimated that at least 10,000 people in Wales have serious eating disorders issues.

"This competition is a celebration of the diversity of the human shape. It is important that we all develop a more realistic view as to what "true beauty" means."