I am obsessed with Brazilian Butt Lifts.

Not for myself, but the culture of women flocking to enhance their buttocks. BBLs are a cosmetic procedure in which fat from one part of a body is injected into the rear end, transforming the bottom into the contour of a balloon or peach. This plastic surgery is dangerous — with the highest mortality rate out of any cosmetic operation — but also one of the most common worldwide. BBLs create the aesthetic of an exaggerated hourglass figure. Channel surf reality television shows or scroll Instagram and see the curves dubbed “slim thick” and featuring a tiny waist, flat stomach, big butt and thick thighs.

Going under the knife for a BBL isn’t the only way to achieve (or aspire toward) this appearance, which is why I read with interest a recent study conducted by researchers at York University in Toronto on women’s body image. It concluded that body goals have shifted from thin to slim thick, which may be more detrimental to women’s body image than thin-ideal imagery.

The ultra-thin look presented by models and celebrities is not as in vogue as a curvier, fuller body type. Celebrity influencers like the Kardashian and Jenner sisters are harbingers of this image.

The report notes that Black and Latina women have typically found skinny less desirable and that they have embraced body curves. However, the report also recognizes that slim thick is mainstream these days, a point illustrated if you flip through the pages of white-centered magazines.

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The York study used white women participants between the ages of 18 and 25 who were shown various Instagram photos of white women. “Women who compared themselves to slim-thick imagery experienced more weight and appearance dissatisfaction, and less body satisfaction, than those who compared themselves to thin-ideal imagery. Young women who are highly perfectionistic about their appearance, ruminate and worry about having an imperfect appearance, and who strive for a perfect appearance are relatively more vulnerable to appearance and weight dissatisfaction and low body satisfaction after comparing themselves to slim-thick-ideal imagery than to thin- or fit-ideal imagery,” the report said.

On Instagram, #slimthick has more than 1 million posts. Type #slimthickfit. Women brag about snatched waists or promise bigger booties via paid fitness partnerships. One caption said: “I hear so many women say that they want to grow a booty but also have a small waist. Is it possible? OF COURSE.”

Of course I see the irony of white influencers like the Kardashian-Jenner clan who are culture vultures. The York report names them as glorifying slim thick. When I see the sisters sashaying on the red carpet, I roll my eyes. They mimic elements of Black womanhood whether through tanning or lip plumping — everything but the burden.

Appropriation aside, harm exists in trying to achieve a slim thick physique because it can be a mirror trick and set up unrealistic standards. Celebrities and Instagram devotees may have had plastic surgery or used other enhancements to achieve the body type. I don’t knock plastic surgery, but women are pressured to achieve a particular body style. Popular culture, music videos, celebrity magazines and social media distort reality.

Dr. Rebekah Fenton is a pediatrician affiliated with Northwestern University. I reached out to her to see what she thought of the study and how this relates to girls who come in her office. She wasn’t surprised at the findings and said for far too long ideas around body images have been narrowly defined.

“People have had ideas for what their body should look like that weren’t necessarily kind of the stereotypical image of like the model who you might see walking the catwalk. And so then anybody outside of that was forgotten. This [study] was calling into this realization that the ideal body can look very different than that more stereotypical representation and therefore have significant impact on more people than we often see centered in conversations around eating disorders,” Fenton said. In other words, moving beyond only talking about anorexia or bulimia to achieve super thinness.

As a doctor, Fenton takes the approach of acknowledging that pressure surrounding body size so no one feels shamed. She has adolescent patients who believe a waist trainer or certain exercises will magically turn them into a slim thick figure.

“In general, there’s this idea that by constriction or focused exercises, you can either lose weight, or really define a certain part of your body. There’s no real ability to be able to target those particular activities,” Fenton said.

When patients tell her they only do abdominal exercises, she tells them the exercises may be strengthening the muscles but that’s not necessarily going to contribute to weight loss, specifically, in that midsection.

Teenagers and young women are up against social media and a billion-dollar beauty industry that gives them false hope. A good dose of media literacy is needed to understand the models they admire employ airbrushing, BBLs and strategic camera angles to produce or portray a slim thick figure that’s actually a façade.

Natalie Moore is a reporter on WBEZ’s Race, Class and Communities desk. You can follow her on Twitter at @natalieymoore.