General FAQ

QUESTION: What is body image?

ANSWER: Body image is the picture you have in your head of what you look like, along with your feelings, thoughts, and judgments about your body. Your body image is created from a bunch of different things, including the feelings connected to the picture you have of yourself in your head. Your body image is based on things like what you know from school about health and nutrition, how you grandma looks, how your friends and family talk about bodies and all of the images you see on TV, movies, videos and magazines.

QUESTION: What is negative body image?

ANSWER: Negative body image is not liking your body, your weight or specific body parts. It may also include disliking your hair, skin color, or facial features. Unfortunately, this is becoming a very common problem for not just girls and women, but boys and men too.

QUESTION: How can negative body image affect my health?

ANSWER: Reports show that only 2% of women around the world describe themselves as beautiful, this leads to unhealthy dieting: Girls are starting to diet younger than ever before. Taking drugs to lose weight: Depression and other mental illness: Disordered eating: One out of every ten girls and women develops some type of eating disorder.

QUESTION: How does the media effect body image in teens?

ANSWER: Advertising in teen magazines and on television usually glamorize skinny models that do not look like the average woman. In fact, today’s models generally weigh 23% less than the typical woman. The average person in the United States sees approximately 3,000 ads in magazines, billboards, and television every day, teenagers are getting the wrong message about body image much too often. 81% in the U.S. strongly agree that the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can never achieve.

QUESTION: Why don’t I look like the models I see in magazines and on TV?

ANSWER: It is a fact of life that most women cannot look like models or movie stars. The average model is 5’10” and weighs 110lbs and the average woman is 5’4” and 145lbs. Models spend a large percentage of their day engaged in activities that manipulate or shape their bodies. Photographs are almost always modified or enhanced in some way also. Not even the models look like their photographs.

QUESTION: How can I view the media and not be so affected by it?

ANSWER: Know that the media uses props, lighting and computer technology to make actors’ and models’ bodies look like the so-called “perfect image.” People’s shapes and sizes are often changed in the pages of magazines. So-called “imperfections” like acne, freckles, lines, wrinkles, skin folds and other unwanted features are airbrushed out. Splicing together body parts from several different photographs can create the media’s “perfect image” so what we see in a magazine ad is a lie. Remember that everyone is different. And it is not just normal but also wonderful to be that way!

QUESTION: Do boys have body image issues too?

ANSWER: The media and health agencies are reporting that body image issues have been becoming more and more of a problem for teen boys over the past decade. This is because boys re increasingly interested in their appearance including their hair, clothes, and physique. click here for more

QUESTION: How do I know if I have a good or bad body image?

ANSWER: Answer these questions and then read on to find out what your answer say about your body image.

1. Which parts of your body do you feel really good about?
2. What would you change about your body or the way you look? Why?
3. Do you have a relative you look like? Or have you been told that you look like a certain celebrity? IF so, how does it feel to know that you look like that person?
4. How much time do you spend getting ready before you go to school in the morning? Before you go on a date?
5. In general, how do you feel about food and eating? Is it something you enjoy, or something you feel worried, guilty or concerned about?
6. Is there something about your looks that would keep you home from school?
7. What steps would you take to change your body? Exercise? Cosmetic surgery? What’s too far?

When answering these questions, look for extremes. If, for example, there is not one thing you like about your looks or would have a very hard time if your skin broke out, you probably have low body image and need to work on it. If you found lots of things you like about your body and don’t spend too much time worrying about how you look, then you probably have a good body image.

QUESTION: How can I help my daughter to have a healthy body image?

ANSWER: Promote a healthy relationship with food by not using food as a reward or punishment. Teach your daughter to listen to her body and to trust its messages. Help your children to understand nutrition. Provide opportunities for your child to make her own food choices. Compliment your children often on their strengths, accomplishments and efforts instead of focusing on weight, size or appearance. Consider not having scales in the house and avoid commenting on your own weight concerns. Have family activities that involve getting outside the house and being active. Recognize that weight gain, like the development of breasts and hips is a normal part of puberty. Help your daughter accept these changes. Teach your children about diversity. Listen to your daughter and make time to talk to your daughter about what is going on in her life.

QUESTION: What can I do to feel better about my body?

ANSWER: Recognize how and when physical appearance is falsely linked to being healthy, happy and successful. Join a support group for women that celebrate the range of womens natural shapes, and to stop unhealthy dieting. Become involved in a group pressuring media to change the way they show women. Appreciate all that your body can do. For more ideas click here.