Ban the term “anti-ageing”, advises health organisation

A report by a public health charity is calling for the term “anti-ageing” to be banned in the beauty and cosmetics sector because of the negative effect it’s having on society.

Research conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), in partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkain Foundation, found that almost half of women and a quarter of men feel real pressure to maintain a youthful appearance.

The report states that the “everyday conversations, informed by the media, are rife with examples of language that either trivialise, vilify or catastrophise the ageing process. Chief among these is the persistent use of the term ‘anti-ageing’ within the cosmetics and beauty industry.”

The charity believes the frequent use of the phrase on products and beauty treatments paints the ageing process in a negative light, insinuating that growing older is something to be ashamed of. It said these implications to try and reverse the signs of ageing are “nonsensical” and “dangerous” because ageing is a natural process.

Shirley Cramer CBA, chief executive of the RSPH, said: “Too often ageist behaviour and language is trivialised, overlooked or even served up as the punchline to a joke – something we would rightly not tolerate with other forms of prejudice.

“Our report shows that ageist attitudes abound in society and have a major impact on the public’s health, and yet they are rarely treated with the seriousness they deserve.”

The charity is calling for all major outlets, such as Boots and Superdrugs, as well as beauty magazines to ban the use of the term and “refocus its ageing narrative in opportunities to be embraced rather than processes to be resisted”. 

You can read RSPH’s report “How Attitudes to Ageing Affect our Health and Wellbeing” here.

Do you think the term should be banned? Comment below.