The Problems Young People Have With Their Body Image

When we talk about body image, we mean the mental and subjective representation of our appearance. Sometimes this perception corresponds to reality. However, it can also happen that this perception could hardly be further from the truth. A distorted body image arises because of the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors you have about your body.

Most people are dissatisfied with at least one part of their body. This feeling is perfectly normal as long as you don’t feel the need to do everything you can to correct this supposed blemish. For example, through an operation with which you want to reshape or change the body part in question.

This condition is known as negative or distorted body image. If your dissatisfaction leads you to adopt harmful behaviors just to change your body without looking for potential physical or psychological risks, then you have a distorted body image.

Causes and reasons for a distorted body image

Problems with one’s own body image are very common in Western society. Therefore, over the past twenty years, many experts and researchers have conducted studies on the subject to investigate the causes. They examined two different variables:

• Social factors. Media, culture, friends and families.
• Psychological factors. Negative feelings influenced by the social factors. Irrational beliefs and beliefs that arose as a result of home and culture.

Obviously, the psychological factors are very closely related to the social factors and influence each other.

When young people are dissatisfied with their own bodies

Our body image is influenced by our perception, affective aspects and our behavior. In today’s society, excessive emphasis is placed on external appearance. The current ideal of beauty in Western culture is very slim or thin women and muscular men. This ideal is downright overrated.

The media constantly confront us with this ideal of beauty. Therefore, the companies that have subscribed to this beauty craze and the associated “body cult” have been able to increase their profits significantly in recent years.

While this problem affects all age groups, the effects are particularly harmful to teenagers and adolescents. Puberty is a phase of change. During this time, teenagers are searching for themselves and want to discover who they really are. Therefore, they are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to change. For this reason, the messages that society and the media send out can affect teenagers to a greater extent than other age groups.

In addition, some studies have shown that body image problems can arise even before puberty. These results are very worrying. Therefore, it is imperative that society take steps to protect young people from this.

A negative body image and the consequences that arise from it

Dissatisfaction with one’s own body sometimes leads people to adopt behaviors that are very harmful to health in order to get the “ideal body”. For example, if someone wants to lose weight, they will avoid certain foods, fast and exercise excessively.

If children adopt such behavior even before puberty, it can have serious consequences for the body. Exhaustion, bone injuries, gastrointestinal problems, or nutritional deficiencies are just a few of the possible consequences.

In severe cases, this behavior can also lead to stunted growth, delayed puberty, or eating disorders. If someone suffers from one of these diseases, then in most cases they previously had a negative or disturbed body image.

In general, women are more likely to suffer from eating disorders than men. However, the number of men suffering from these disorders has risen dramatically in recent years. Men are very often dissatisfied with their bodies if they perceive it to be too thin or too fat or not muscular enough. Women, on the other hand, are mostly not satisfied with their weight.

To prevent all of these problems from occurring, an approach has been developed which has proven to be very effective especially in schools and various institutions. The pupils are encouraged and asked to take a critical look at the messages that the media spreads about the physical appearance of people. In this way, children, teenagers and adults learn to recognize which lifestyles are healthy and which are not. This will then help them adopt healthier habits.