Body image, or illusion

Looking into how our society looks at what is the perfect body image makes me wonder. I wonder if majority of the "perfect" body or image is something that was set as a standard since the beginning of time, or are we mostly influenced by what we see through the media? Thinking about this for some time, I have definitely come to believe the media has way more influence on what we think is acceptable. I do wonder however, were did the media get the idea of this image it portrays. Was this from one particular person who got their Joly's off on a particular look that had a big influence on the industry, or was it maybe a trend that grew in years of movies, TV shows, Advertisements, Etc. that was ingrained in our heads and our children's heads since adolescence? I do have to ask if this idea image is healthy for our children to see. After all, how many women and even men that we see in the media are actually healthy. Look at how sickly skinny most of the runway models look that we see and also many of the "bombshell" Hollywood actresses we see on the television. Personally, I do not think this is healthy for anyone. You have to look at many of the young kids already starting to diet at a young age due to this "perfect" body image that we see in the media. There is no escape from these images and we need to teach our kids from Early on and monitor them. They need to be taught the truth and they need to be taught that this look is not normal and is not healthy. Sure, obesity is no better, but we need to know the happy medium. We all are different and our bodies all react different. The children need to be educated by us before they get their ideas of the "perfect acceptable" image.
I have lived through this side of dieting to have the perfect body. I was surrounded in this since childhood as a competitive ice dancer. It never seemed to matter how in shape and unhealthily skinny you were, you were always still a bit big. My ex-wife for instance is a sad story due to the fact that this idea of the perfect body for her profession nearly killed her. She started seeing her teeth crack and her nails were frail. She was about 5'4 weighing 100 lbs and still had to diet. She ended up becoming a bulimic and it ended up putting her to the hospital. She would treat herself during this time of her life to a dessert, but instead of swallowing it, she would chew it up good and spit it down the sink. She hid this from all of us for years. She would eat and then go and throw up her food shortly after so she would not gain the weigh.
Here as you can see is a horrible lifestyle to maintain that "perfect" body image we are shown everyday and many are influenced by and even told this is the way it is from people we think we can trust. Some of these same people are influenced perhaps to believe this is the acceptable body image and influence people at a young age. It seems to me this is a down hill spiral and can trickle down from the media to the watcher to whoever they have an influence on and so on.
I don't know, these are just some thoughts and some questions as well as a few beliefs I personally have. How many people do you really know "in person" that look like some of these models and actors/actresses we see. Much of the time, what we see is not even their body, but what am I to say what is acceptable and not. I am just saying though, I know myself when finding women attractive, I do not generally find the skinny rib and hip bone showing sickly looking that attractive. I want a real woman and I am sure there are others who feel the same both men and women.