Reducing Distorted Body Image Issues in Teenage Girls

Daniela M. Velluto  

Body image has in our society has become a popular topic over the past 35 years. In fact, 90% of body image studies have been published since 1980. (Voelker et al, 2015, pg. 149) The media and our culture has become obsessed with an unattainable image of women. Magazines and online articles criticize female celebrities for being too heavy or too thin. This unattainable image of women is brought into TV and movies. Stars might not mean to distort the image of what a beautiful woman is, but in order to be cast in most roles women are asked to meet an unrealistic criteria and if they don’t they don’t get the job. To become successful in “show business” actresses and models are being told to showcase unrealistic body types that most girls can't duplicate without severely hurting themselves and their health. Girls are being bombarded with ads telling them that with the right products they can be perfect too. Female characters in films, tv, and even kid’s shows are more than twice as likely (34.3% vs. 10.7%) to be thinner than their male counterparts. (Smith, Choueti, Prescott, & Pieper, 2013) When girls begin to compare themselves to their favorite stars, they usually feel that they are not pretty enough. Poor body image lowers the self-confidence in girls which and leads to depression, poor school performance, and risky choices. Social media has a great impact on the internalization of societal ideals in young girls. These social norms may be present in a girls life, however, these norms can be combatted within a girls family and social group when a healthy body image is taught.

Celebrities through a recent hashtag campaign on twitter called “#MeToo” were able to talk more openly sexual abuse and assault in the industry. Many of these stories highlighted the distortion of body image that they had come in contact with during their work in the industry.  During the “Women in Hollywood Event” Jennifer Lawrence spoke out about her experience with the predominance of distortion of body image in the industry. She said, “When I was much younger and starting out, I was told by the producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks. ‘Super easy’. One girl before me had already been fired for not losing enough weight fast enough, and during this time, a female producer had me do a nude lineup with about five women who were much, much thinner than me. We all stood side-by-side with only paste-ons covering our privates. After that degrading and humiliating lineup, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of me as inspiration for my diet.” (J. Lawrence, Women in Hollywood,  17 October,2017)

Body image has is a major link in young girls’ disturbed eating patterns. These eating patterns affect the nutritional status of these girls and also leads girls into a spiral of depression and anxiety disorders. “Self-definition and individual identity which is influenced by various biological, psychological and social factors. Excessive concern about body image, body image misconception is leading to dissatisfaction.” (Rashmi et al, 2016, LC05-LC09)

This link between girls eating patterns and body image comes from the internalization of societal ideals of attractiveness. This is often referred to as, “Thin-ideal Internalization”. This is what happens when girls cognitively “buy into” socially defined ideals of attractiveness and then begin to engage in behaviors to become close to these ideals. 

A cross-sectional survey was completed in with 548 schoolgirls from 5th grade through the 12th grade in a working-class suburb in the northeastern United States. The questionnaire that was given to them and it assessed the impact they felt with their own body weight and how the images in magazines impacted their personal feelings about their weight and shape. “Of the girls, 69% reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape, and 47% reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures. There was a positive linear association between the frequency of reading women's magazines and the prevalence of having dieted to lose weight because of a magazine article, initiating an exercise program because of a magazine article, wanting to lose weight because of pictures in magazines, and feeling that pictures in magazines influence their idea of the perfect body shape.” (Field et al, 1999)

This thin-ideal internalization can become deadly. Girls are more than ever looking to become skinnier through a concept called “thinspiration” or “thinspo”. These terms are used in when a person is seeking to loose weight or maintain a low body weight by looking at images of very thin celebrities, models, or people for inspiration. With this need to reach a personal "thin ideal" many girls find their “thinspo” online through pro-eating disorder (Pro-ED) websites online. 

“Using Google AdWords Keywords in February 2011, a series of search terms (based on previous research) were entered to generate search-related data regarding actual pro-ED terms used in Google, including the corresponding search results, which were coded for degree of potential harm. Results indicated that Pro-ED search terms are sought out more than 13 million times annually, with pro-ana (pro-anorexia)  receiving the most searches monthly.” (Lewis et al, 2012)

After accounting for BMI in a study of 629 boys and 659 girls in grades six through eight. It was found that girls with higher BMI felt a perceived pressure to attain a lower weight, felt stronger social comparison, and poorer perceptions of physical ability. (Voelker et al, 2015, pg. 149) 

I wanted to understand how we as individuals or in society can help create or support healthy body image. So, over the past several weeks I have been asking people over the phone, online, and in person their ideas on how we can change this current reality. These were some of the comments.

“We need to help teens understand that what the media presents as a healthy body image is often an absurd “ideal”and that even the people who are killing themselves to try and achieve it get photoshopped,” (J. Boyd, personal communication, 13 November, 2017)

“We need to acknowledge that sizes are just numbers and letters. At my healthy weight, I am a Large and size 11. My family genes prevent me from being a small. The Smith's are big, broad people. 

Also, instead of commenting on how someone's physical appearance is "you've lost weight”, make comments like "you look so healthy”. We need to get rid of the notion that weight is bad and skinny is good. (J. Goates, personal communication, 13 November, 2017)

“It is all relative. Next to some people I am heavy, next to others I am skinny. It is what is inside us that counts. Being healthy is happiness.”  (L. Phillips, personal communication, 15 November, 2017)

The responses continued, but each one came to a conclusion that the societal ideals of body image need to be changed, and that the emphasis of physical appearance needs to be replaced with an emphasis in a person’s character. However, changing the perception of the entire public is not an attainable solution. But, teaching girls about healthy body image is one of the ways we can create a true impact in their lives so that they can grow up happy and healthy. 

 
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 63 female students studying BBM course at a private commerce institution in Vijayapur city. A self-administered questionnaire was given and height and weight were measured to calculate BMI. It was found that 39.7% of participants were underweight and 15.9% were overweight/obese. The majority of underweight and overweight girls (72% and 89%, respectively) perceived themselves as normal weight. This study shows the difference of young girls’ body image perception and their BMI levels, indicating body image misconception. The lower literacy level of mothers and opinions of relatives and friends significantly influenced body image satisfaction among study participants. (Rashmi et al, 2016)

This study shows that the increase in body image satisfaction happened when mothers, relatives, and friends promoted a healthy outlook about body image. This helped improve the female student's outlook on their own body image. Teenage girls will feel confused or concerned about the physical changes that come with puberty and how they measure up to societal norms. But, when girls are taught that society has unhealthy standards of beauty by their family and friends they are more likely to feel good in their own ‘skin.’

References

Rashmi, B., & Patil, S. S. (2016). A Cross-sectional Study of the Pattern of Body Image Perception among Female Students of B BM College in Vijayapur, North Karnataka. Journal Of Clinical And Diagnostic Research, 10, LC05-LC09. doi:10.7860/jcdr/2016/20764.8180

Rukavina, T., & Pokrajac-Bulian, A. (2006). Thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction and symptoms of eating disorders in Croatian adolescent girls. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 11(1), 31-37. doi:10.1007/bf03327741

Lewis, S. P., & Arbuthnott, A. E. (2012). Searching for Thinspiration: The Nature of Internet Searches for Pro-Eating Disorder Websites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(4), 200-204. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0453

Field, A. E., Cheung, L., Wolf, A. M., Herzog, D. B., Gortmaker, S. L., & Colditz, G. A. (1999). Exposure to the Mass Media and Weight Concerns Among Girls. Pediatrics, 103(3). doi:10.1542/peds.103.3.e36

Reel, J., Voelker, D., & Greenleaf, C. (2015). Weight status and body image perceptions in adolescents: current perspectives. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics. doi:10.2147/ahmt.s68344

Goates, J. (2017, November 13). Reducing Distorted Body Image Issues [Online interview].

Phillips, L. (2017, November 15). Reducing Distorted Body Image Issues [Online interview].

Boyd, J. (2017, November 13). Reducing Distorted Body Image Issues [Online interview].

Lawrence, J. (2017, October 17). Women in Hollywood. Speech presented at Women in Hollywood Event in Hilton, Los Angeles.