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Body image is how you think and feel about your body and the way they look can affect your mental health in both a positive and negative way.
Body image relates to your body size or shape, height, skin colour, appearance, facial features, physical disabilities or differences.
For young children, attitudes about body shape and size can start as early as three or four years old when they are already becoming aware of societal pressures to look a certain way.
Studies show that primary school girls are more likely to compare their appearance to their peers, while boys are more likely to focus on how strong their body is, usually in relation to how good they are at sport.
Family, cultural and community attitudes and opinions about what is “normal” for both boys and girls can influence a child’s view of how they think and feel about themselves and others.
The media can also affect what children think “normal” is - this sometimes leads to children creating unrealistic expectations about their bodies. Other factors, such as long-term health conditions, may also have an impact.
6 ways to be body positive
6 ways to be body positive
How body image affects mental health
How body image affects mental health
Being body positive can support mental and physical health by boosting confidence and helping children to develop a healthy image of themselves. Not measuring your worth based on how they look can boost overall wellbeing, and means you are more likely to think about being healthy and fit, rather than being a certain body size.
A negative body image or body dissatisfaction can lead to a child having:
low self-esteem
low confidence
anxiety
depression
poor self-perception.
It can also affect a child’s:
learning
quality of life
participation in school
achievement in school
eating habits – this may lead to unhealthy eating patterns, which could put the child at risk of developing eating disorders.
Spotting the signs
Spotting the signs
It’s normal for people to compare themselves to others. This is especially true during pubescent years when children notice their body physically changing, and this may not happen at the same time as their friends’.
But there are a few things that may suggest this has become an unhealthy and maybe affecting the way they feel about themselves and engage in school.
Here are some signs to look out for:
feeling overly worried about how they look
wanting to cover up parts of their body because they feel self-conscious
not wanting to change or take part in physical education (PE)
being bullied for the way they look – or children making negative comments
equating “fat” with “bad”
refusing types of food because “it makes me fat”.
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