If you have ever struggled with body image issues, you know how difficult it is to develop confidence and self-esteem. Think back to adolescence with the awkwardness, physical changes, and struggle to find our true selves.
Do I look fat?
Those four little words cause many people, parents and even our children, a lot of heartache. We analyze every roll and bulge. Somewhere, somehow we became self conscious of our bodies. Often, seeing pudge and ugliness where no one else can. As we became more aware of our bodies, these inadequate feelings snowballed and began scrutinizing every blemish or misplaced strand of hair.
Self-Esteem
If you have ever struggled with body image issues, you know how difficult it is to develop confidence and self-esteem. Think back to adolescence with the awkwardness, physical changes, and struggle to find our true selves. For many people, those years were filled with angst and a lot of self questioning. We may have experimented with bang styles, peg jeans, or eyeliners popularized in teen magazines or featured on Saved By The Bell on Saturday mornings just to fit in with our peers.
Social Media
Fast forward a couple of decades and our children are now undergoing the same awkward phase. However, this time around they have the constant influx of media telling them what physical attributes are acceptable and desired. They often use social media to focus on appearance, challenges, and peer feedback.
Cell Phones
Our teens access have unlimited access to social media and contact with their peers by using a myriad of digital devices like Smartphones. With this hyper focused attention to their bodies, they are often overlooking health and personality qualities that make them unique and special.
Body Image
For parents, it’s easy to forget the struggle with self acceptance. However, body image issues in teens is still a relevant issue today. Even though our kids have ditched the blue eyeshadow, we still need to be aware that a poor body image can lead to a host of emotional and physical problems developing in our children like depression, eating disorders, and more.
Image Credit: Hilary Smith
For more information on body image issues in teens, please read the following infographic:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ts-ig/BodyImage.png
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