"Everybody wants that iconic body and those who have a body image disturbance are willing to do just about anything for it," says Delhi-based psychiatrist Sujata Sharma. "This pathological obsession for a perfect body is the result of a personality disorder and affects impressionable teenage girls most."

Adds Vikram Kapoor, personal trainer of many celebrities in Delhi: "Obsession with a perfect body stems from insecurity. Most of these people are missing something from their lives. They are unhappy individuals who want to compensate through a fabulous figure. But following a fad does not give you perfection."

Significantly, between fear and aspiration, what is usually overlooked is the fact there is nothing like a perfect body. Factors like body weight, fat percentage and body mass index are peculiar to every individual and no rule of the thumb can be applied to forge a Barbie doll figure.

"We are all endowed differently by nature," explains Shereveer Vakil, personal trainer to film stars like Tabu, Kareena and Karisma Kapoor. "While we can work on our bodies, we can’t change them completely to suit a tailored notion of perfection. Not everyone can look like J Lo and we must learn to accept that."

"What people fail to realise is that your genes play an important role in determining your body type," observes Gullu, an aerobics instructor in a Bangalore hotel. "If you have a large bone structure, you cannot possibly shrink it. Women need to be particularly educated on this score."

Vakil cautions youngsters who abandon a steady routine of moderate exercise for extreme forms of short-cuts to burn fat. Often packaged in attractive forms like flavoured chewing gum, these are no more than capsulated ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin, which generate energy, but no nutrition.

In the circumstances, the only effective alternative recommended by nutritionists is healthy eating. "You get weight-loss tablets as well, but what are their long-term effects?" asks Bangalore-based dietician Sheela Krishnaswamy. "A tablet hardly provides nourishment and can cause giddiness and headaches."

The other big fad, whose consequence users are unaware of, is drugs known as flab fighters. "The drug Ma Huang is the original substance from which ephedrine is extracted," says Vakil. "Another example is the guarana extract which is a raw form of caffeine. All these are freely available in drug stores without any certification. Even protein supplements used in health drinks are not approved by any health authority."

Despite increasing awareness about these drawbacks, many women tend to be obsessively drawn to flab-fighting shortcuts. "Everybody wants instant and unrealistic results," complains Gullu. "A personal trainer who does not deliver will be out of business. Today, super-bodies need super-nutrition."

Yet another modern fad is ‘working out’ in gyms, little realising that over-exercise can lead to a drop in sugar levels, clammy hands and feet, giddiness and acidity. Women are particularly susceptible to medical complications like irregular periods, low thyroid functions and inability to conceive.

Fitness trainers therefore discourage gym equipment and machines as a weight-loss device. As Mumbai-based Ramma Bans puts it: "It is a dangerous trend if people just let machines work on them. These machines tamper with the body. And please remember that wherever there’s a miracalous weight loss, there has to be a scam beneath!"