Do you remember those days, getting ready before school or a fun outing with friends, standing in front of the mirror? Do you remember what your thought process was like back then? Maybe you had negative thoughts. You might’ve considered what others would look like, and how you would compare to them. Even if your confidence was high, and you thought you looked great in your outfit, it’s all still about body image.
Body image, and teens’ complicated feelings about it, transcends time. Everyone can relate to comparing their body to someone else’s, or to some ideal image in their head. This may be a tendency you still live with. We see it every day at Roots Renewal Ranch. When it comes to women, 12% of Baby Boomers, 25% of Gen X, 31% of Millennials, and 41% of Gen Z report having a complicated relationship with eating. It’s a universal problem, but the research shows negative body image is significantly worse in teens and young women.
In a world full of poolside influencers on Instagram and tailored ads promoting dieting to you after a single Google search, teen body image is more unstable than ever. How do we help our teens develop a positive body image in our vanity-saturated society? How do we teach girls they’re beautiful in the face of unattainable bodies on every screen? It’s a difficult task no matter what, but this is page a good place to start.
Defining the Terms: What Is Body Image?
“Body image” is a term that gets thrown around a lot without a real explanation of what it means. Body image consists of your thoughts and feelings about your own body, and is unrelated to how it actually looks. Body image is subjective.
Some people have a body image that is wildly different than what others believe of their bodies, such as individuals with anorexia. These people always view themselves as “fat,” even when drastically underweight. This is an extreme example of negative body image. Usually, negative body image isn’t as severe and instead manifests in smaller qualms about your body.
Positive body image is satisfaction with your body. People with positive body image also might not dwell on how they look at all, focusing more on their plans for the day than their reflection in the mirror. Having a positive body image rarely includes fixating on your appearance, and usually involves focusing on other qualities that you love.
The Unique Challenge of Body Image in Teens
Anyone can have a negative body image, but teens are especially susceptible. Body image challenges usually begin cropping up during puberty, when children’s bodies are changing. They have no choice but to notice these changes in themselves, and once they do, they notice them in others. Everyone is different and grows at different speeds, and this can cause additional insecurity.
Additionally, teens face the realities of high school cliques, peer pressure, and popularity. Every teen is concerned about their peers liking them in some way, and appearance plays a factor whether we like it or not. High schoolers are equal parts judgmental and sensitive. They can be cruel, and can also be hurt easily. Everyone wants to fit in, make friends, and build the foundation for a successful life.
Teens are also impressionable. They’re stuck in a strange limbo between child and adult, both wanting to cling to their youth and be taken seriously as adults. They learn at a rapid pace, and as they gain independence from their parents, can easily get off track.
Social media plays a huge part in this. Most teens are highly active online and are bombarded with a constant stream of the world’s irrational expectations. They compare themselves to friends and celebrities alike, seeing the carefully curated social media world as truth instead of the warped reality it can be. Their self-worth can often be influenced by the amount of likes they get on their posts. This is a real concern when it comes to teen body image, and in our tech-heavy world, it’s hard to unplug from social media altogether.
The good thing about teens’ impressionable nature is that they also respond to positive influences. It’s just a matter of filling your teen’s life with them.
Does My Teen Have a Negative Body Image? Warning Signs and Risk Factors
Anyone can develop a negative body image, but some factors affect body image for the worse, including:
- Experiencing appearance-related bullying
- Having friends and family who fixate on and put down their bodies
- Frequent exposure to unrealistic beauty standards, such as models in magazines and on TV
- More time on social media like Instagram
- Involvement in activities that encourage a certain body type or appearance, such as ballet, modeling, or weight-lifting
- Insecurity or perfectionism in other areas of life
It’s important to remember you can’t keep your teen away from all of these aspects of life, and you shouldn’t try to. These are parts of life everyone must face, and some of them can be positive influences, like sports, and social media helping your teen stay in touch with friends and family. The most important thing is teaching your teen how to deal with these parts of life in healthy ways.
Hints that your teen has a negative body image are easy enough to spot if you’re looking for them. Keep an eye out for the following:
- Frequent comments about other people’s appearance, especially compared to their own
- An obsession with exercising and/or dieting
- Disliking being photographed
- Asking about cosmetic surgery
- Frequently weighing themselves
- Excessive preoccupation with their appearance
- Talking negatively about their own body
The Impactful Effects of Negative Body Image on Teens
Negative body image ultimately makes a teen’s self-esteem and confidence worse. This makes life less enjoyable for them and can negatively impact teen mental health, causing concerns such as depression and anxiety. It can sometimes lead to substance use disorders or physical health complications as well.
The worst result of negative body image, and likely a parent’s largest concern, is the development of an eating disorder. This is an understandable concern when it comes to negative body image that grows out of control.
The most severe eating disorder is anorexia nervosa, which involves the person with the disorder starving themselves, no matter their weight. Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder, though this one alternates between eating large amounts of food (bingeing) and vomiting or using laxatives (purging). People with bulimia nervosa are not necessarily underweight and can appear perfectly healthy on the outside. Binge-eating alone involves eating an excessive amount of food as a coping mechanism and feeling ashamed afterward. Those who binge eat are often overweight.
While all of this is scary, it’s also important to remember that overcoming a negative body image is a wonderful accomplishment that teens should be proud of. If your teen experienced a negative body image and grew to love and accept their body, they have a unique perspective and ability to understand those with a negative body image that no one else does. They can then use that familiarity to help those in the situation they used to be in. Beautiful things can come out of this, too, so cling to that hope if you currently have a teen with a negative body image.
Having the Hard Conversations: Talking About Body Image With Teens
As with any heavy issue you want to discuss with your teen, you’ll want to make sure they feel safe to talk to you. Empathy is key. You can start with something like, “Hey, I noticed you’ve been unhappy with how you look lately. Do you want to talk about it?” If you had similar challenges as a teen, tell them so they know they can relate to you. Then, share how you overcame them with your teen. Focus less on your teen’s appearance, and more on their other positive qualities as you talk.
If you still don’t have the best body image as an adult, it’s okay to be open about that. Your teen will appreciate your honesty, and it will probably make them feel more understood. Just be careful that the conversation doesn’t turn into you both talking about aspects you don’t like about yourselves. Instead, frame negative body image as a challenge you can both work on together and build each other up.
How to Be a Positive Body Image Role Model for Your Teen
Body image is relevant no matter your age. It is not a teen-exclusive issue. It might take some work on your part, but you’re the biggest influence on your teen from the moment they’re born. How you view your own body and how that manifests has a serious impact on kids.
One of the most important things is to make sure you don’t complain about appearance in front of your child, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. This will place a heavy importance on looks, and teach your teen to be critical of themselves and lead them to believe others will be critical of them, too. Avoid talking excessively about dieting in front of your children, too, especially if you mention it in the context of wanting to lose weight.
Helping Your Teenager Have a Healthy Body Image
Helping teens develop a positive body image isn’t easy. It’s a process that starts from a young age and only becomes more important as children grow up. The most important thing you can do is surround your teen with support and positivity.
You may be reading this and realize you’ve done things that may negatively impact your teen’s body image. Don’t worry. It’s not too late to be a positive body image role model for your teen. Emphasize health and well-being overweight and appearance. Humanize the unrealistically beautiful people your teens see images of. Focus on the amazing things your body can do and the importance of character over physical qualities.
There may be some cases where all of the advice in this article isn’t enough. Your teen’s body image may be so negative that nothing seems to help. Don’t lose hope. They may need treatment for an underlying mental health condition fueling their negative body image.
Located in the Dallas Fort Worth area, Roots Renewal Ranch offers mental health treatment to teenage girls. We’ll get to the root of any negative body image your teen experiences, helping her heal from underlying mental health concerns. We believe the family is instrumental in any teen’s recovery process and offer family programming as well. Together, we will teach your teen that she and her body are enough. Call us at 888-399-0489 for more on how we can help.
FAQs
What are the effects of poor body image?
Poor body image can lead to a variety of health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, as well as a general low self-esteem.
Can boys have body image issues?
Yes. While negative body image is more common in girls and talked about more in that context, it is also a real concern in boys. Poor body image in boys often manifests in excessive exercise in hopes of building muscle and appearing more attractive.
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