Body Image and the Media

Mommy’s little girl

Mom, Do I look fat?

Helping your daughter with with Body Image

Did you know that….

The number one wish for girls ages 11 to 17 is to be thinner,

More than half of teenage girls are, or think they should be, on diets.

They want to lose some or all of the 40 pounds that females naturally gain between ages 8 and 14

Girls as young as five have expressed fears of getting fat

80% of 10-year-old girls have dieted

“Young girls have indicated they are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents.”

nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner

50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight.

About 3% of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic.

For too many American girls, being "model thin" is a very real aspiration, and it starts at a shockingly young age.

The average teen girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and only about 10 minutes of parental interaction a day

Grade-school girls, as young as grade 1 think the culture is telling them that they should model themselves after celebrities who

are “beautiful and sexy."

One out of three said they had "changed something about their appearance to resemble that character."

two out of three girls "wanted to look like a character on TV."

TV programs focused on appearance are swaying the self-esteem of girls as young as 5.

27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body,

Advertising in teen magazines and on television typically glamorizes skinny models who do not resemble the average

woman

Research has also found that stringent dieting to achieve an ideal figure can play a key role in triggering eating disorders.2

Poor Body Image effects

Eating disorder commercial

Anorexia, Bulimia and Depression are only some of the consequences of attempting “perfection” We can blame beauty

advertisements. They give us a DISTORTED view.

In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music

video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends"

"In 1965 "Slumber Party" Barbie came with a book entitled "How to Lose Weight" which advised: "Don't eat."

The doll also came with pink bathroom scales reading 110lb, which would be at least 35lbs underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall according to the experts...

According to the Media you are suppose to be, tall, skinny, tan,pretty, rich, perfect.

Young girls don’t realize its an illusion…

Distortion…. Dove film evolution

There are three billion women who don't look like supermodels and only eight who do.

The models in magazines are airbrushed - no one, not even models, look that good without some help!

Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14 and is still considered one of the most beautiful women in history.

If Barbie was a real woman, she'd she would be six feet tall and weigh 100 lbs! If female mannequins were real women, they'd be

too thin to have babies.

The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117

pounds.

Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.

Fifteen percent of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes and behaviors.

No wonder our perception of Beauty is distorted…

Five to ten million adolescent girls and women struggle with eating disorders and borderline eating conditions.

So what's a parent to do? Hide every magazine, turn off every TV, and ban Barbie dolls -- those incredibly thin yet curvaceous toys favored by girls as young as 3? Banning

media exposure altogether may backfire. "It only creates the forbidden fruit phenomenon,"

Talk to your daughter before the media does….

You can help your daughter develop a positive body image.

Compliment your daughter on her appearance,

Tell her you like her outfit or the way she does her hair today

Remember that teasing, no matter how harmful if may seem, can make her feel self conscious about her physical attributes or

weight.

Remind her that every one is different and beautiful in her own way.

Compliment her achievements that are not related to her looks…

Remind her that she is a great person inside and out!

Your attitude may directly shape your daughters. If you feel good about yourself, she’ll be more likely to feel good about herself.

Like mother, like daughter...

When it comes to a daughter's body image and eating habits throughout her life, her mother is a major influence. If mothers can learn to value their own bodies, they can teach their daughters to do so as well.