Miss Bimbo

With due supervision, there are many useful resources on the internet for children.

Miss Bimbo isn't one of them.

Miss Bimbo offers the chance to 'become the most famous, beautiful, sought after bimbo across the globe!' In the game, players find a cool place to live, a job, shop for the latest fashions, become a socialite, date famous 'hotties' and, more worrying, resort to medications (diet pills) or plastic surgery in a bid to becoming the reigning bimbo.

While the site warns registrants must get their parents permission if they're under 18, there's nothing to stop any child registering. In fact, the site is targeted at the 9-16 age group.

Concerned about possible impact on body image and associated eating patterns, welfare groups are understandably up in arms. Read here, here and here for starters.

Bill Hibberd, of parents' rights group Parentkind, quoted in the Times article, says the game sends a dangerous message to young girls.

"It is one thing if a child recognizes it as a silly and

stupid game but the danger is that a nine-year-old

fails to appreciate the irony and sees the Bimbo as

a cool role model. Then the game becomes a

hazard and a menace."

However, the creators of "Miss Bimbo" claim it is "harmless fun." As reported in the Times article, Nicolas Jacquart, the 23-year-old French web designer who created it, denies it's a bad influence for young children, saying they learn to take care of their bimbos and that the missions and goals are morally sound and teach children about the real world.

Right. That's okay then.

Of course, while registration is free, there's nothing like the money being charged to players for text messages to buy bimbo dollars/goods to skew your judgement.

BMI buster

Picture from http://www.cats-on-tshirts.com/

A new study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health has revealed that the desire to weigh less was a more accurate predictor of poor physical and mental health than body mass index (BMI). This effect was also found to be truer for women than men.

Apparently, being happy with your weight is key.

The researchers point to the discrimination against larger people that occurs in social settings, the workplace and the home, suggesting that these processes can be internalised. The resultant negative body image can become a chronic source of stress.

The researchers emphasise that there is a large body of evidence suggesting that social stress adversely affects mental health as well as physical health.

Peter Muennig, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, explains, "The data add support to our hypothesis that the psychological stress that accompanies a negative body image explains some of the morbidity commonly associated with being obese. Our finding that the desire to lose weight was a much stronger predictor of unhealthy days than was BMI further suggests that perceived difference plays a greater role in generating disease."

More details can be obtained by following the source link below. For those wanting to read the paper in full, "I Think Therefore I Am: Perceived Ideal Weight as a Determinant of Health," will be published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Source: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health