Beauty is only skin deep.

Many teens might agree with that statement but are unwilling to look below the surface. Last year, 79,501 patients age 18 and younger had cosmetic surgery, compared with 11,868 in 1992, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Even though most teens won't have plastic surgery, many don't feel comfortable with their appearances. They look to movies, TV programs and magazines for advice on clothes, diet and makeup.

Y-Press recently interviewed four girls who work for teen magazines, the content of which doesn't revolve around physical appearances. Carly Timm-Bijold, 11, Ally Gellatly, 12, and Kellen Sheedy, 15, are editors at New Moon, a bimonthly magazine for girls ages 8 to 14 that focuses on their dreams and ideas. Molly Conway, 15, is an editor at Blue Jean, an online magazine "where young women unite to change the world."

These four girls recently spoke about their views on beauty inside and out. Here are some excerpts of those conversations.

Definition of beauty

MOLLY: Beauty is that feeling that you get when you recognize something that clicks with you, something that you recognize as being not necessarily perfect, but complete the way it is. Beauty is wholeness.

CARLY: I think beauty is attributes that you have on the inside, such as kindness and courage.

KELLEN: I think beauty is something that makes you different or special, or kind of defines who you are.

ALLY: I think that beauty is what's inside, like if you're the kind of person that a friend would want.

Inner vs. outer beauty

MOLLY: I think inner beauty comes before outer beauty because you can't be beautiful on the outside without being beautiful on the inside.

But personally, I do value my appearance. I do look in the mirror every morning, figuring, "Do I look like who I want to look like?" I think it's very important to have a sense of style, because when you look good, you do feel better about yourself.

CARLY: I think inner beauty definitely comes before outer beauty. Society tends to think that outer beauty is more important. I think it's New Moon's job to encourage girls that inner beauty and what you're like to other people are more important.

KELLEN: Inner beauty will get you somewhere in life. But outer beauty can only get you so far.

Girls' self-images

MOLLY: I think everyone in high school is equally obsessed with their appearance, whether it's to be fitting into the crowd or to be different and stand out from the crowd. Whether you know it or not, your social status is set in fifth grade. Junior high is a big change for girls.

KELLEN: I went to the same school for about 10 years, and I was with the same kids, and I definitely saw a lot of the girls changing from junior high. They would become more quiet and wouldn't speak up as much. But I don't think I felt that way myself.

CARLY: Once you hit about fourth grade or middle school, around there, what happens is, boys as well as girls start to form cliques and popular groups, and they kind of control the way the rest of the people think.

Media influences on girls

MOLLY: I see people around our school, and we have these agendas that we get, and they take the ads and post them in their agendas, and they put them on their binders and in their schoolbooks and plaster their lockers with these ads.

I think (most magazines) are more for ads. I don't think they'd like to be viewed that way, but I think that's what they are.

CARLY: I think that magazines don't necessarily mean for girls to become bulimic or anorexic, but the focus is to make them thin.

KELLEN: I think magazines definitely lack in encouraging inner beauty. . . . I think it's also in the way that you look at it, too. Like if you're looking through a magazine, thinking, "Oh I want to be like her, I want to be like her, I want to be like her," then you're not gonna get some of the messages that might be more health- or muscle-related.

MOLLY: I think celebrities are definite role models for girls, and I think that by them being so skinny and obsessed with their own appearance, it does teach girls to be obsessed with their appearance as well.

CARLY: I think if celebrities talk about inner beauty and how it's so important, I think that that definitely sends a good message to girls because their role models are talking about something important.

Their magazines' focus

MOLLY: We really try to focus on the beauty that comes through experience. . . . I really feel like I'm contributing to the globalization of empowering women. I feel I'm helping to add some good to the world, and that's definitely changed my outlook on life. It really has changed the way I look at people for the better.

CARLY: In our "25 Beautiful Girls" issue, which we have been doing for two years now, we talk about how important inner beauty is. (And) every year, we have an event called Showing Beauty Inside Out Day, where we go around to different schools and we talk to kids about inner beauty.

ALLY: What we're trying to get out to people is that (they should) have positive images about themselves.

REPORTERS: Audrey Green, 13; Julie McDowell, 13; Keisha Mitchell, 13; Abby Rivin, 13; and Valeri Simmons, 13.