Adolescence: Developing a Positive Body Image

Body image is our personal view and interpretation of our body, including mental, emotional, historical and physical components. Another definition of body image is: "A picture of the body seen through the mind's eye."

Body image can be influenced positively or negatively by outside forces. Societal and cultural norms and mass media marketing impact our concepts of beauty. Many external influences are so widely accepted that we don't even realize their influence:

• Culture -- instills and conveys values of our society at large. Beauty in our society is narrowly defined, especially for women.
• Mass media -- the images of a standardized beauty fill our magazines and newspapers, beam from our televisions and entertain us at the movies.
• Advertising -- mass media plays upon accepted cultural values of thinness and fitness for commercial gain. Young adults are presented with a narrowly defined standard of attractiveness, an ideal which carries unrealistic physical expectations. Both boys and girls are told that they should look like a model, but only one in 40,000 naturally have a model's body type.

Adolescence is a time when young adults begin to separate from their parents and develop their own identities. Acceptance by their peers is of utmost importance. This can make pre-teens and teens vulnerable to ideals embraced by our culture and reflected in the media.

Is Body Image Linked to Our Appearance?

Our physical appearance actually has little to do with our body image. Self-esteem is probably the biggest factor influencing our perceptions of our body, and therefore our body image.

To obtain the fashionable, ultra thin look, many young women restrict their food intake. Men are affected too; wrestlers frequently restrict their food intake in order to "make weight". This occurs at a time when adolescents need energy and nutrients to support one of the fastest growth rates of their lives. Calcium and iron are of particular importance during this time. More than half of adult bone calcium is acquired during adolescence. Children ages 9-18 years need 1300 mg of calcium a day -- that's equivalent to four 8 oz. glasses of milk! Inadequate calcium intake during this growth period can have lifelong consequences, increasing the risk later in life for osteoporosis.

Poor Body Image Can Also Play a Role in the Development of Eating Disorders.

• Anorexia nervosa, which generally starts between 12-18 years of age, is characterized by restrictive food intake, weight loss and excessive exercise. One half to 1% of adolescent girls develop anorexia.
• Bulimia nervosa, the binge/purge syndrome, typically develops between 16 and 20 years of age. Approximately 3% of teenage girls develop bulimia.

Eating disorders primarily affect women, but the prevalence in men is on the rise. In both sexes eating disorders can have fatal consequences.

The good news is, as an educator you have the opportunity to significantly impact just how good your students feel about their bodies and themselves. You are also in an ideal situation to help those who have poor body images. How?

• Increasing their awareness of what body image is, and the positive and negative influences that are part of their everyday lives.
• Celebrate the body! Promote acceptance and pride of all body shapes and sizes. Discuss body pride within the context of function rather than appearance.
• Celebrate the physical changes that occur as part of puberty, educate and demystify the body changes that students are experiencing.
• Promote exercise as a fun, participatory activity that all body shapes and sizes can enjoy.
• Engage students in creative activities that promote a feeling of productivity, purpose and accomplishment.
• Acknowledge and promote the value of a variety of skills and talent, such as creativity, intelligence, emotional intelligence, athletic or musical ability.
• Promote balanced nutrition including foods from all food groups.

Discuss Why it is Also Important for Young Men to be Aware of Body Image Issues:

• By becoming aware of cultural norms to "objectify" women, men can help to stop this treatment toward their female counterparts.
• Males are not immune from eating disorders and their devastating physical and emotional consequences. Males involved in sports such as wrestling and long distance running are especially at risk for developing eating disorders.
• Males need to be aware of distorted body image and eating disorders, so that they can identify and provide support to friends or family members who may be struggling with these issues.

• Spending a lot of time in front of a mirror, obsessing about specific body parts
• Weighing oneself multiple times per day
• Hiding one's body with oversized clothing
• Refraining from enjoyable activities because one feels ashamed or self conscious about one's body
• Talking about the flaws in one's body and minimizing other qualities such as intelligence, humor, creativity, athleticism
• Obsessing about food, weight and level of fitness in private and in public

• Gradual or dramatic changes in food intake and eating patterns
• Gradual or dramatic changes in body weight
• Highly charged emotional responses to changes in daily schedule, meals or activity level
• Eating very little at meals but insisting that one is full
• Eating large quantities of food and then "disappearing" to the bathroom
• Isolation, irritability, depression

Act as a trustworthy sounding board to your students…you are much more likely to be aware of a problem if you open your eyes and ears to your students.