Beauty Redefined: Girls and Body Image

Over the last three decades, according to the United States' Center for Disease Control, obesity rates in America have tripled in children between the ages of 6 to 11 and adolescents age 12 to 19. Today, nearly one in three children is overweight or obese. Further complicating the issue, girls today are bombarded with images in media and fashion promoting ultra thinness as an ideal that have a negative influence on body image and are linked to eating disorders among other unhealthy habits.

The Girl Scout Research Institute's latest survey, Beauty Redefined: Girls and Body Image (2010), demonstrates that many girls consider the body image sold by the fashion industry unrealistic, creating an unattainable model of beauty:

• Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed say the fashion industry (89 percent) and/or the media (88 percent) place a lot of pressure on them to be thin.
• However, despite the criticism of this industry, 3 out of 4 girls say that fashion is "really important" to them. Girls still feel intense pressure from the media to have an 'ideal' body type. When they do not measure up to these unrealistic beauty standards, their self-esteem, body image, and physical health can be significantly damaged.

Girls still feel intense pressure from the media to have an 'ideal' body type. When they do not measure up to these unrealistic beauty standards, their self-esteem, body image, and physical health can be significantly damaged.

What are some things you have done to encourage young women and girls to see themselves and their bodies positively? Is it possible to change the way the media portrays women in film, television and editorial? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

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