Finally, medical experts have set up a task force to study an issue so pressing that it curdles the skin. We’re talking about cellulite, the fat that binds women of all body types into a sisterhood of the dreaded, dimpled skin.
About 90 percent of women past age 20 will develop cellulite, regardless of their body fat composition. While overweight women are likely to have more cellulite because they have more fat, thin women have it too.
“I fluctuate between a 2 and a 6,” said model Anna Benson, 29. “But no matter what size I am, I have it. Everybody has it. Every single one of my girlfriends has it.”
Because so many people think they can simply exercise the fat away, a group of doctors and medical professionals this spring formed the American Cellulite Task Force. They want to educate people that it’s usually not their fault if they have cellulite. It’s not so much about teaching people to embrace their inner fat as it is to help them know what to do about it and how to separate sales pitch from science in seeking treatment.
By the numbers
Surgical treatment for cellulite is soaring in the U.S.
– Among women 35 to 50, liposuction was the most popular cosmetic procedure in 2004, with 165,694 people having it done.
– Non-invasive treatment of cellulite for those between 35 and 50 rose to 24,513 in 2004, up 97 percent from 2000.
– Among people 19 to 34, the increase is even more dramatic, up 2,172 percent, to 9,359 treatments.
–COX NEWS SERVICE.
SOURCE: AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLASTIC SURGEONS
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Drew Sottardi (dsottardi@tribune.com)
