Body Image

Body image and

Studies have shown that women have a large impact on their daughters when it comes to dieting and loosing weight. Children pick up easily on conversations that their mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. have with one another. Teens and girls as young as 5 often hear about how dissatisfied their mothers are with their bodies, how they wish they looked, and the dieting methods they use to gain the body image they hope to get. These types of comments cause unhealthy eating habits, pressure to look like the people they see in the media, or even low self esteem. Many teens take extreme actions such as skipping meals, vomiting, and binge eating. These habits quickly become a problem, allowing the teens to develop serious physical

Many teenage girls of average weight think they are overweight and are not satisfied with their bodies. Having extreme weight concerns -- and acting on those concerns -- can harm girls' social, physical, and emotional growth. Actions such as skipping meals or taking diet pills can lead to poor nutrition and difficulty learning. For some, extreme efforts to lose weight can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. For others, the pressure to be thin can actually lead to binge eating disorder: overeating that is followed by extreme guilt. What's more, girls are more likely to further risk their health by trying to lose weight in unhealthy ways, such as smoking.

Although not as common, boys are also at risk of developing unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders. Body image becomes an important issue for teenage boys as they struggle with body changes and pay more attention to media images of the "ideal" muscular male.