Body image - A wider perspective

Body image - A wider perspective
December 2011
Is society putting too much’ body related pressure on children? In recent years: - Two hundred 5-9 year olds have been hospitalised and treated for
eating disorders during the last few years. - Since 2003 there has been 80% rise in the numbers of girls, aged 16
and under, diagnosed with bulimia. - 600 children under 13 have been referred to a specialist with a
suspected eating disorder during the last 3 years.

Last Thursdays Tonight programme on TV1 challenged its viewing audience with the following question. “Are we raising an anorexic generation”?
What made the question even more thought provoking question was body image related the statistics that it had acquired via an exclusive research survey of 1500 7 to 18 years commissioned from One Poll.

Why are we seeing the alarming rise in eating disorders among children? We want our children to be healthy. Health is good, but is our cultures obsession with weight and being thin having a damaging effect on the young?

Eating disorder specialist Dr Dee Dawson told Tonight, “we are seeing more and more children and a younger and younger age. Children are being told constantly that they shouldn’t be eating this or that, because they it will make that fat. At the same time they are being sent the message that it is possible to be too fat, but it is no possible to be too thin”.
Against this background it is not surprising the number of children who are worried about their weight and putting themselves on a diet is becoming increasingly common.

On Thursday we saw 7 girls clearly illustrating that they were very aware of their body shape. The used the terms ‘chubby’,’ porky’ , ‘sad’ to describe being overweight and voiced fears that being overweight could result in others calling them names. Clearly, they perceived being overweight as something bad that was to be avoided.

The survey found: - More than 60% were worried about their weight - Over 30% admitted to skipping a meal in order to lose weight - 10% were on at least 5 diets in the last 12 months - Over 30% of 7-10 year olds stated that they are influenced the attitude
of others to thinness. - 30% of 11-13 year olds wanted to be thinner. - 33% of weighted themselves at least once a week - 13% on a constant diet - Almost 20% are depressed because of their size.
Sadly for many children the fear of being fat is very real. This can be clearly seen by reviewing the emotions that a group of 12 year olds consciously link their body size and shape.

When looking a digital photos that made them bigger or smaller than their real size, photo all the girls wanted to look like the thinnest picture of themselves. Why? They thought the image “looked happier”, “more attractive” , appeared to have” more confidence” and that they would be happier, because “people will want to look like you”.

Conversely, no one wanted to look like the largest picture of themselves. They said they would “feel insecure” about their weight and wouldn’t feel that I “fit in” and that “it doesn’t look appealing to people”. When asked if the larger image could be happy the response was unequivocal. Perhaps the person in the image “could be happy with herself, but I wouldn’t be happy”.

In their eyes thinner was clearly best.
Who are the culprits of this worrying phenomenon?
Society at large says Dr Dee Dawson. “We live in a society that values thinness so much, we talk about it constantly and it washes of on very young children. It makes them feel guilty, it makes them think that they should be dieting, and that’s what they do ()”.
From my own research a lot of the blame for the body image problems that children are having is placed on the upsurge in the visibility and importance of popular culture. This is exacerbated by the media’s use of airbrushed images, the beauty industries idealisation of ‘perfection’ , the use of thin models by the fashion industry which all send the very strong message that thin is not only good but, necessary if success and happiness.
As a mother of a 9 year old (girls) who is already complaining that she is the “fattest of my friends”, I am concerned about where all the pressure to be thin is leading.