Not okay: JoJo’s record label wanted her to take diet pills

Today in all types of NOT OKAY, singer and style icon JoJo spoke out about the horrible and 100 percent problematic pressures she was put under as a young artist. Why? To lose weight.

“Here’s something that I agreed to do that ended up messing with me psychologically,” JoJo told PopSugar. “I was under a lot of pressure with a company I was at previously and they wanted me to lose weight fast.”

JoJo continued talking about her experience, saying, “So they got me with a nutritionist and had me, like, on all these supplements, and I was injecting myself.”

She explained the purpose behind the supplements. “It makes your body only need certain calories, so I ate 500 calories a day.”

Talk about alarming. Considering that most women in their 20s need anywhere from 1,800 to 2,400 calories a day, it’s clear that this push for JoJo and other young stars to lose weight has absolutely nothing to do with health and well-being. It has to do with control, and pushing a single image of beauty.

Looking back, JoJo recognizes how awful the diet was. “It was the most unhealthy thing I’ve ever done,” she now says.

We’re so happy to see JoJo speaking out about this major issue. Her story makes it clear that we need more education when it comes to disordered eating and unhealthy habits.

Here’s what you need to know about eating disorders.

Eating disorders aren’t about just about vanity

Eating disorders are about more than just seeking to lose weight. It’s a physical or mental illness that takes over, not just someone’s desire to be skinnier or pretty, though media portrayals, especially of women, play a role as well.

But media does influence how we view our bodies.

Young girls who read magazines, say that the photos of women in the media influence how they think about their bodies, with 47% saying the pictures make them want to be skinnier.

JoJo proves that eating disorders are still an issue.

Though education about eating disorders has increased, the rate of development of new cases of eating disorders has been increasing for the last 60 years, and there’s been a huge increase in anorexia and bulimia each decade.

Thank you, JoJo, for being so open about your experiences, and we hope that this vulnerable moment will encourage more to come forward and expose the dangerous role of dieting in the music world.

The post Not okay: JoJo’s record label wanted her to take diet pills appeared first on HelloGiggles.