Promoting Positive Self- Esteem
Body image in children and youth is an important concept; children and youth with a positive body image will feel good about their bodies, exude confidence, and take care of the needs of their body. A positive or healthy body image is feeling satisfied with one’s own body and being comfortable with one’s appearance.
Just as positive body image is associated with health benefits, negative body image or body dissatisfaction is associated with negative health consequences such as unhealthy eating practices, which directly relates body image to important goals within the Healthy Students Healthy Schools program.
Teaching & Learning
Sharing information with students about how natural growth and changes to the body during puberty (i.e. girls can see up to 22% increase in fat) and emphasizing the need to appreciate and respect individual differences in growth patterns and in size (e.g. genetic influence, heritability of height and overall body shape) is important to support children and youth in forming a positive body image.
Media literacy is recommended as a prevention strategy and has been shown to be an effective technique to help improve self-esteem and body esteem and reduce unhealthy dieting in young adolescent girls.
Beyond Images, a self-esteem and body image curriculum, was developed by the National Eating Disorder Information Center (NEDIC) with financial support from the Dove Self-Esteem Project. This program offers free lesson plans for grades 4 to 8 classrooms that tie into curriculum outcomes, and work to develop students’ media literacy skills, challenge the ideals created by the media, and promote healthy body image.
Social & Physical environment
The physical environments can be used to communicate messages that reinforce positive body image. In particular this initiative wants to target washrooms with messages that encourage the development of positive body image, and acknowledge strengths and assets that are unrelated to appearance such as attitude, character and effort. Washrooms will be targeted in this initiative because there are generally not other competing messages in the space, and the presence of mirrors reflecting what an individuals believes about their body.
To see all available options, and request these messages on mirror clings and/or vinyl decals/posters for your school, please fill out this Google form.
Partnerships
The Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion Consultant within Central Health conduct best practice research on body image and have developed education materials for the youth populations. These resources can be drawn upon to support schools in this effort, with the support of each school's public health nurse.
As well, Canada’s Food Guide discusses the role of healthy eating in promoting and supporting health and does not focus on weight or weight loss, which is important to the narrative around body image.
Lastly, there are many organizations in your community that you can reach out to and discuss programming opportunities for your school. Consider thinking how a positive body image and positive self-esteem translate into empowered decision making? Or how media literacy can improve critical thinking skills and improve self-esteem?
Some community organizations that may be available to you to support efforts to promote body image and self-esteem include:
- Community Youth Networks
- Family Resource Centres
- Roads to End Violence
- Violence Prevention South & Central
In addition, the Health Promotion team at Central Health has resources and supports available, as do the Safe and Inclusive Schools Itinerants.
Healthy School Policy
This initiative supports the Safe and Caring Schools policy in that it promotes celebrating individual strengths and advocating for student wellbeing. There is also a connect to fostering school connectedness, and any schools wishing to expand on this initiative are urged to contact their Safe and Inclusive Schools Itinerant for information regarding grants that may be available.