How Many Young Women Get Plastic Surgery?

Feb. 28, 2005 -- Few young women in college have gotten cosmetic surgery, but they don't rule it out in the future.

Only 5% of college students in a recent study said they'd had cosmetic surgery. But most knew people who have been nipped, tucked, or peeled, and many said they would consider it themselves.

Cosmetic surgery skyrocketed 299% from 1997 to 2003, says the study. Medical advances, greater public acceptance of cosmetic surgery, and the media probably all contributed to that, it says.

On the anonymous questionnaire, 40% of all participants said they would consider cosmetic surgery in the near future. Nearly half (48%) said they would consider it by middle age, and 33% said they'd think about it in their 60s.

Overall, the women voiced more favorable than unfavorable attitudes toward cosmetic surgery.

"Ignoring those who responded with indifference, 43% agreed and 32% disagreed with the statement that people should do whatever they want to look good," write the researchers in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

They add that 45% said they approved and 28% disapproved of people surgically changing their appearance to feel better about themselves.

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