Dove, in collaboration with STRIPED (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders) at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health and economists at Deloitte Access Economics, has released a report titled “The Real Cost of Beauty Ideals” on the impact of beauty standards on the US economy and society. The STRIPED research, conducted by Dove, estimates the cost of body dissatisfaction and appearance-based prejudice. The study looked at two major “pathways” via which these expenses are built. It was discovered that body dissatisfaction costs $305 billion in financial and well-being expenditures each year. According to the report, appearance-based discrimination costs an extra $501 billion every year. These expenses present themselves in a variety of ways, both financial and non-financial. The significant cost is “loss of well-being,” which might include despair, suicide, smoking, and eating disorders. According to Dr. Bryn Austin, founding director of STRIPED, advocates and legislators are working hard to solve these concerns. There is growing support for legislation to address the “insidious impacts of diet culture,” she claims.

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