Press Releases

The BBC Asian Network reveals how Asian men are leading the way when it comes to plastic surgery, with a reported 40% year-on-year increase.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) claims that surgery amongst men in general has increased by 300% in the past five years.

According to Harley Medical Group, Asian men are now leading the increase in rhinoplasty. This procedure amongst white men is now no longer the most popular and comes third on the list after breast reduction and liposuction.

With the desire to have a more 'Western' looking nose, the Midlands and London in particular have seen rhinoplasty figures for Asian men increase up to 40%. These figures are far ahead than the average increase which makes nose reconstruction the most popular procedure for Asian men.

Asian Network Reports: Under The Knife reveals how some procedures are being done in secret so that the wider family are not aware of the surgery. One organisation which arranges operations abroad says its Asian patient list has grown to one a week on average.

Jenny Fowler, of the organisation Let's Face It – Together, says Asian men will go to any length to hide the fact that they are having surgery for fear of their family's reaction. One client having a nose job asked her to tell his parents that he was away on a teacher training course where he had fallen off a horse and broken his nose.

Another client who had liposuction told his parents he had been involved in a motorbike accident when he returned home covered in bruises and not able to walk properly. The weight loss as a result of the lipo was put down to the trauma he had faced.

Consultant Surgeon Vic Vij says that second and third generation Asians are becoming more westernised and no longer consider it a bad thing to alter their bodies.

He says: "In western society the images that are put forward as 'beautiful' are of a more aquiline nose – young people want to look more Hollywood than Bollywood."

Doctors such as Vic Vij are concerned about the numbers of Asian men going abroad for surgery. As they are less likely to come clean about the surgery, for fear of their family's reaction, this will push them to go to clinics abroad which are not working to the UK standards.

Asian Network Head of Programmes, Husain Husaini, says: "The Asian Network Reports special have yet again demonstrated they are not afraid to highlight taboo subjects that affect the Asian communities today."

The documentary will be aired on BBC Asian Network on Monday 6 July 2009 at 6.00pm.

Notes to Editors

For interviews with any of the guests appearing in the documentary please contact BBC Asian Network publicity.

Listen to the BBC Asian Network, the sound of Asian Britain, on digital TV, digital radio and online at bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork.

MN