Cause for concern?
Sadly body image concerns, eating disorders and low self esteem are increasingly occurring in our children. Eating disorders include a range of physical, psychological and behavioral features that often have an impact on social functioning and can invade most areas of a child’s life. Instead of living happy, playful and healthy lives children are concerning themselves with anxiety and distress about their shape and size. “More than 2,000 children have received treatment for eating disorders in the past three years, according to figures reported on Monday.
Statistics show that nearly 600 children under the age of 13 were treated in hospital in England, including 197 aged between five and nine. The figures from 35 NHS hospitals showed 98 were aged between five and seven at the time of treatment and 99 aged eight or nine.
Almost 400 were between the ages of 10 and 12, with more than 1,500 between 13 and 15 years old. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, are believed to be an underestimate, according to reports.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/01/children-eating-disorder-figures-alarm) It is such an awful shame because these children are loosing their childhood and a crucial stage of their life when they are growing and developing into individuals.
Who’s to blame?
Although eating and weight disorders are common in children there is a scarcity of practical guidance on treatment methods for eating disorders for young people. There are many books available for parents and adults with regards to recognizing and helping a child who has an eating disorder. Unfortunately I didn’t find much guidance available for children themselves. There is certainly a lack of material available for children to prevent the body image concerns inflicted upon them. Is it ok to just blame the celebrities? Or do they themselves suffer the same issues because of media, magazines, celebrity gossip in print and constant diet tips in the papers and in society? Is it actually the responsibility of parents , teachers and society to infuse the right attitudes of self worth and beauty being more than skin deep?
What is the solution ? Confidence in personal identity , self belief and self worth!!!!
More important than this blame culture is the need for effective preventional tools. If we want children to grow up to love and accept their bodies, they must be raised to love and accept themselves. We need to teach children it's what's on the inside of a person that counts, not what's on the outside. These pre-conceived images of beauty, the desire to be as thin as a certain celebrity icon and the need to be on the next hyped diet phase that society boosts; all need to be contradicted and reinforced with corrective messages. To be an effective preventional tool for children it would need to be in the language that children can understand. It must also be creative and appealing in order to be engaging and influential.
There is certainly a niche in the market for books/workshops for children that tackle the issues of eating disorders and body issues in children. An enjoyable fun fantasy book, with characters a child could relate to, with vivid images and creative illustrations would be perfect, especially if there was an ongoing comprehensive activity book or workshop to take part in. The media sadly sends out confusing and misleading messages which has resulted in risk factors for eating disorders and low self esteem for children being dissatisfied with their body. There just isn’t enough reading material for children to read to prevent these misleading messages. Children are constantly exposed to the message that we should all be thin and not with the message that they need to accept people for who they are and not what they look like. They are not given the message that they should be proud of who they are, they are not being given the drive to appreciate themselves and their abilities, instead they are being given the message that they must be thin to be happy and successful. They are being given the message that to be accepted, to be popular and to be respected they must be thin.
I hope that with the books and literature that is being created today, there will be an influx of children’s books that counteract the many magazines, celebrity gossip and constant diet tips that children have been reading to start their eating disorders. I hope with these, children will learn to be proud of whom they are and respect others for who they are inside and not judge them for how they look. I hope children everywhere will be able to love and accept who they are. I hope they will be less likely to strive to attain society's definition of the "ideal" body image and they will love and accept their own bodies, no matter what size they are. I hope books will be filled with corrective messages that go straight to the heart of child body image issues. I hope the new books will help children live happy and healthy lives that wont lead to the staggering amount of eating disorders that exist in children now.
Practical methods for tackling children’s confidence in their body image and preventing eating disorders
Giving a child the tools and encouragement to form a solid feeling of confidence for their own identity is crucial. Understanding that “The Real” you is beautiful, everyone is a beautiful individual , with different beauties , none more important or of higher value than the other.
The key is practical and comprehensive guidance and teaching as a basic part of kids education –at home and also at school . Giving children the knowledge to make good choices with regards to healthy eating is also crucial. Understanding how to stay fit and the importance of a healthy weight is our responsibility – we cannot simply blame celebrities for our children’s eating habits.
I appreciate that cost and time effect parenting when thinking about food and health. Parents that are poorer or have less time , may struggle to provide food that nourishes a child . Convenience foods save time but are not always the healthiest option, so is it the celebrities fault? Or can the parents make better choices and teach their children better?
Thumbs up to many celebrities who are helping
It is our social responsibility to explain to children, that celebrities feel pressurized as they may also feel. That they are beautiful and don’t have to be unhappy. There are many celebrities out there trying to help this situation , Jamie Oliver is a fantastic example of a celeb helping and ‘sainsbury helalthy eating ‘ promotion is a perfect way to help children. Gok Wan is another celebrity helping society feel good about themselves. He make people appreciate what they have and understand their self worth is beautiful.
We can only hope that more celebrities, or people in the public eye will jump on board and help children tackle their insecurities and appreciate themselves. To live happy, ambitious and successful lives.
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