Body Image Report - Parliament of Victoria

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CHAPTER TWO - THE DEVELOPMENT OF BODY IMAGE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE concerns and negative body image. 52 Talk among peers may communicate the importance of weight and shape and the initiator’s anxiety. An analysis of individuals’ responses to such talk suggests there may be a positive side of reassurance through the affirmation of friends but may also result in insecurity and body image concerns for others within the group. 53 2.31 In a recent Australian study, body dissatisfaction in girls was found to emerge in junior primary school years between ages 5 and 7 and appeared to be a function of shared peer ideals for thinness. 54 As the Committee heard: The most important findings of the present study were in relation to the peer influences. Basically girls as young as five years of age knew about the potential social consequences of weight - both negative in terms of being teased and positive in terms of being more liked, if you are a normal weight or a thinner figure. Also, the main finding was perhaps this peer norm for the thin ideal even in the five to eight-year-old age bracket… 55 2.32 Comparing body shapes with friends and peers is a more subtle way of determining whether an individual conforms to the group’s ideal. Thus peers may serve as points of comparison so that individuals may determine their place within their social environment. Research supports peers as being major targets of body comparison. 56 2.33 Peer groups may also actively promote a certain body type. As previously stated, popularity in adolescence may often be bound to a certain body type generally thin with girls57 and athletic and muscular for boys. Another significant contributor to negative body image is teasing, from both within and without peer groups. Research has shown that teasing about weight can be a contributor to body dissatisfaction independent of the individuals’ actual size. 58 Another 19
INQUIRY INTO ISSUES RELATING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF BODY IMAGE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE AND ASSOCIATED EFFECTS ON THEIR HEALTH AND WELLBEING long term study has shown weight-related teasing to be a predictor of later general body dissatisfaction after the individuals’ initial body dissatisfaction is taken into consideration. 59 However, it is argued that further long term and experimental research is required to confirm weight and shape teasing as directly related to body dissatisfaction. 60 2.34 Peers may also play a positive role. There is a strong correlation between low peer group emphasis on body image and low levels of body dissatisfaction just as the opposite can be found. 61 Although study of positive peer influence has concentrated more specifically to deterring extreme weight loss behaviours than determining body image, 62 the success of an American school-based peer support group intervention in improving weight and appearance esteem over a three- month period suggests that positive peer group can be a factor in minimising body dissatisfaction. 63 Influence of the Media 2.35 There is a predominance of images of thin glamorous women and muscular athletic men in the current media. These are presented as the aspiration and are associated with happiness and success. However, they are unrealistic and unrepresentative, often the product of a rare body shape, image manipulation or a combination of both. 64 These body types are also difficult to attain for most people and the difference in the ideal and what is attainable is thought to be a significant source of body dissatisfaction. 2.36 The National Body Image and Eating Disorders Awareness Week post card distribution also revealed the concern young people have with the type of body images presented in the media. Characteristic of the comments were: 20
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Body Image Report - Parliament of Victoria

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