Body Image at a Glance

Body image is the way you see yourself and imagine how you look.

Having a positive body image means that, most of the time, you see yourself accurately, you feel comfortable in your body, and you feel good about the way you look.

It is common to struggle with body image, no matter who you are.

Severe negative body image can lead to serious eating and exercise disorders

How do you feel about your self esteem?

do you feel inferior or superior to people?

whats your opinion?

When you Look in the Mirror, do you Like What you See?

Is your body positive or negative? If your answer is negative, you're not alone. Women in the Uniter States are under pressure to measure up to certain social and culteral definitions of beauty. This can lead to poor body imaging. People are trying to be the ideal "Barbie".

Teen health and the media

• In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
  
  
  
• 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".
  
  
  
• A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin.
  
  
  
• One study reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.

facts about body imaging

1. Twenty years ago, models weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, they weigh 23% less than the average woman.


2. The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.


3. If Barbie was a real woman, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.


4. About 7% of 12th grade males have used steroids in order to become more muscular.


5. If GI Joe were human, he’d have larger biceps than any bodybuilder in history.


6. One out of every four college aged women has an eating disorder.


7. It is estimated that 40 to 50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in time.


8. Americans spend more than 40 billion dollars a year on dieting and diet-related products – that’s roughly equivalent to the amount the U.S. Federal Government spends on education each year! Almost half of all women smokers smoke because they see it as the best way to control their weight. Of these women, 25% will die of a disease caused by smoking.


9. In 2007, there were about 11.7 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. Ninety one percent of these were performed on women.


10. A study found that 53% of thirteen-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This number grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.


11. According to the Girl Scouts Research Institute, one-third of all girls have a distorted idea about their weight.