Twelve. The age of the youngest person to get liposuction. Granted, she was from America and morbidly obese, but even under these circumstances, should this have been allowed?

In a recent Guardian article, it was reported that in India, plastic surgery has seen an increase in demand from those about to start university, stemming from the desire to make a good first impression. B. Narayanaswamy, Director of the market researcher Ipsos, said that the recent popularity owed to influences from celebrities, as well as the fierce competition for a tiny number of jobs in India today. As everyone knows, it is often not what you know, but who you know, and unfortunately, knowing the right people often depends on fitting in and looking good. Pooja Singh was one student who went under the knife, explaining that although personality is important, "when you first meet someone, it is how you look...that counts". Ben Caller, a third year student, feels that "people become desperate to be accepted as beautiful in order to get ahead".

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) estimates that around 333,000 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed on those 18 years of age or younger in the United States in 2005. Compare this figure to the 14,000 in 1996, and the increase is shocking.
But how, and why, has this view of cosmetic surgery been accepted as conventional?

We live in a society that has become increasingly concerned about looks and celebrity. Young people are significantly influenced by the mass media, and this fixation on perfection has led to more people undergoing cosmetic surgery. Celebrities are also much more open about the surgery that they have had. Heidi Montag, the 23-year-old star of reality show The Hills, underwent ten procedures in one day. By the age of 21, she had already had breast implants, a nose job, and collagen lip injections. Not the greatest role model for young people. In contrast, Emily Rossum, an actress, said that she was "upset [to see] a young women in the spotlight advocating plastic surgery."

The cost of a breast augmentation in 2005, one of the most popular forms of cosmetic surgery with adolescents, along with liposuction, was approximately $4,000. Although expensive, cosmetic surgery is now more accessible to the average person. It is not only the rich and famous who go under the knife.

For many people, especially teenagers, body image is closely linked to self-esteem. Sam Ryan, a third year student at Surrey University suggests that ‘your image influences how people perceive you and how you perceive yourself’. Particularly during puberty, the body goes through many changes, both physiological and psychological, and the temptation to compare with others, and the desire to feel accepted is particularly strong. Psychologist Diana Zuckerman suggests decisions to undergo liposuction or breast augmentation should therefore be delayed until after adolescence.

So, does cosmetic surgery help? Studies show that, in most cases, cosmetic surgery does improve satisfaction with the body part that was changed. However, other studies have shown the opposite. In these cases, the patient may have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which is defined as a "preoccupation with an aspect of one’s appearance." Research suggests that between seven and fifteen of patients who undergo cosmetic surgery have some form of BDD, and that surgery is unlikely to improve it. Therapy is a much better solution. Interestingly, a Dutch study found that body image improves among teenagers as they mature, and this is true whether or not they have undergone cosmetic surgery. So maybe, cosmetic surgery should only be allowed to those 18 years or older, whether or not they have parental consent, when they have grown up, both in mind and body.

In the Middle Ages, voluptuous women were considered the ideal of female beauty. Perfection is now defined differently, and unfortunately, cosmetic surgery is the preferred method of many in the pursuit of ideal beauty. Only time will tell if this trend is to be a lasting one, but unless society’s attitude changes, this generation of scalpel-happy adolescents is unlikely to be the last of its kind.