Written by Dr. Rachita Narsaria, M.D. | The term “body image” was coined by an Austrian psychoanalyst and neurologist Paul Schilder. Body image is how you see yourself, not how the world sees you. It is the sense of physical attractiveness you perceive yourself to have. To me, it seems that the importance placed on physical appearance has shot up immensely over the past two decades. What’s more frightening is that children are being affected.
Here are some shocking statistics about how people view themselves:
- 91% of women don’t like the way they look and opt for dieting to achieve what they see to be their ideal body. Conversely, only 5% women naturally possess the “ideal” kind of body portrayed by the media.
- 15% of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes and behaviours.
- Americans spend a whooping $40 billion on just dieting and diet-related food products every year.
- 42% of 1st to 3rd grade girls say they want a thinner body.
- 81% of 10 year old kids are afraid of getting fat.
- A majority of the fashion models have a body weight less than 98% of American women.
- 46% of 9 to 11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and 82% of their families are more often than not on diets.
- 91% women surveyed at a college had worked on weight control through dieting and 22% said they were often or always dieting.
- 3% of adolescent and adult women and 1% of men have bulimia, binge-eating disorder, or anorexia.
- Only 10% of people suffering from an eating disorder will seek professional help.
Looks are a part of who you are, but it’s a very small part of your entire being. Looks are a minuscule component of what makes you truly beautiful. It sounds cliché but clichés stem from truth: a woman who is beautiful on the inside radiates beauty on the outside too.
Let me close off with two contrasting images. On one end, you have a woman who goes the extra mile for her friends and family, works hard to uplift herself, and walks 2 miles a day to maintain a healthy heart. One the other, you have a woman who closes herself off from loved ones, chain smokes to suppress her appetite, and places all her worth on the width of her thighs. Who is more beautiful?
If you or someone you know has an eating disorder, visit the National Eating Disorders Association website for resources.