Tackling Teen Body Image Issues
How Parents Can Help Create Good Self-Esteem in Their Teens
Jun 25, 2009
For most teen girls, how they look on any given day can cause them to feel like the most beautiful creature to grace the earth, or it can be a scene for a major, living disaster. With all the pressures that come with adolescence, how a girl views her body can have a lasting impact on her social development, her school performance, and, most importantly, her mental health.
Body Image and its Effects
Body image is commonly referred to as a person's view of her physical self. This outlook can often be skewed in teenaged girls, creating a distorted body image. How a teen girl feels about her appearance is important because science has shown body image to be linked to self-esteem and self-worth. Put plainly, those who have a negative body image tend to have lower self-esteem, which can lead to a host of mental health issues such as depression, anorexia, and bulimia.
Siegel et al studied this phenomenon in "Body Image, Perceived Pubertal Timing, and Adolescent Mental Health" [Journal of Adolescent Health, 1999]. They found that if a young woman has negative feelings about her body, it will lead to more depression symptoms and a lower self-esteem. With current standards of beauty being set by Hollywood size zero models and actresses, it is important for parents to be aware of the potential problems that could arise from this negative view.
Tips for Fighting Negative Body Image
Parents need to be aware of the situation that teen girls face so they can have a plan of action for combating it. With more awareness comes a better responsiveness. Many parents might make comments or suggestions to their teen about weight and image assuming they are harmless, while never grasping the deep and long-term impact such comments can have. Being aware of the repercussions could change how a parent would approach a sensitive subject with their teen.
It's important to reassure teen girls, especially during those formative years, of their inner and outer beauty. Parents should focus not only on the teen’s physical appearance, but on her other endearing traits as well. It's also good to remind teen girls that the standards set by Hollywood are not realistic, and that there is no one definition of beauty. By exposing them to a different standard, parents can give their young girls a different and healthier perspective to work with. Start early and often!
Embrace and focus on those in the media who do not fit the Hollywood norm. One way to do this is to praise models and actresses who are outside the mold, emphasizing that they reside in a business where beauty is key, and, therefore, must be considered a part of that definition. Showing girls, from a young age, different standards could help them have a better view of themselves in the future.
Latha Erickson quoted Girl Power, a public education campaign, in a 2007 CNN.com article "Body Image Pressure Inundates Teen Girls". According to Girl Power, having a strong male role model can help girls create a positive body image – so get those fathers and father figures involved! She went on to state that dads should focus on qualities outside of looks to boost self-esteem.
During that period in life, it's hard to remember that there's more to a person than just looks. But by reminding young girls that each person is a myriad of qualities, and encouraging them to accept and be themselves, parents can stay one step ahead of these issues.
