Why arnt magazine photos a good representation of what a healthy person looks like?

Magazine photos, especially ones in ads, are Wall Street's perception of what will sell products. Wall Street has no interest in public health, or the well-being of any individuals who look at ads. They want their clients' revenues to go up. They are just doing their job. On the other hand, this kind of material is feeding the deepening and serious imbalance that leads us (in the US) to have a sick, self-centered and adversarial relationship with food and nutrition.

The photos inspire this kind of subconscious thought: I really want to look like (fill-in-the-blank), that woman (or man) who is very, very thin (and perhaps even thin to the point of poor health) and if I buy (fill-in-the-blank), I will look like that! The result is people who are buying products they don't need and that may in fact be making them sick, and that may even encourage weight gain. Alternatively, people will sicken themselves and diet irrationally in order to achieve a certain body image, a body image that is often in support of serious mental illnesses like anorexia and bulimia, and that could lead to serious health problems or even death.

These constant messages through the media along with the glorification of fast food and frenetic, unbalanced lifestyles, is making many of us sicker by the day.