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New Restrictions Proposed on Teenage Cosmetic Surgery in Australia
A reality television show has prompted a major change in the laws governing cosmetic surgery and other body altering procedures in the Australia’s state of New South Wales, which includes the city of Sydney.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that Premier Morris Iemma became “disturbed” when he learned that a teenaged contestant on the program Big Brother had had breast implants. And that incident resulted in Iemma’s administration introducing regulations that will require a referral from a primary physician to a cosmetic surgeon before any procedure is done. The teenager will also have to undergo counseling, obtain parental permission and have a one-month “cooling-off period” before having the operation.
The newspaper cites American statistics from the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons showing that 326,000 cosmetic procedures in 2004 were on teenagers.
Reminding his constituents that he was the father of a young daughter, Iemma told the newspaper that he was worried about the over-obsession with body image. “We need to send a strong message that young women will be valued for who they are, not what they look like, “the Sunday Telegraph quotes him as saying. “It used to be the case that the biggest question parents faced was whether to give their children permission to have their ears pierced.”
Source : http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/08/27/hscout534613.html