Social media puts huge pressure on young people to be thin and camera ready at all times and they don’t have the emotional maturity to deal with that, says Aveen Bannon of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute.
She works a lot in the area of eating disorders and has seen a huge increase in the number of referrals of children, usually girls. Their dissatisfaction with their bodies often stems from comparing themselves to friends in photographs and “selfies” on social media, and they start restricting what they eat as a result.
“Typically it used to occur in the 16-18 age group – now it is occurring much, much younger. And I think that is the big challenge.
“Sixth class/first year would be a key time when you see problems arising. You hear girls are measuring their thighs in class.”
“Research shows that one in four girls is dissatisfied with her body, but we also know a similar percentage are overweight or obese, so it could be argued that many are right not to be happy. It’s a fine line,” Bannon says.
“If you’re overweight you shouldn’t be saying: ‘Yeah yeah, I’m great’ because you should lose weight,” she says. “Likewise, being underweight is not a good thing either.”
In terms of nutrition and body image, it is about trying to find the middle ground and to make sure young people are seeing their body in a realistic way.
“We can’t get to a point where we are afraid to tell a child they are overweight,” she says. But the focus should be on health, not weight.
Sometimes overweight children are completely unaware and it is a parent’s responsibility to make them more aware, she says.
“But that doesn’t mean you turn on them and say: ‘You’re really fat’ . . . but ‘maybe it is a time we all started eating a bit healthier’.”
It’s not just about food
Too often it is all about food and there isn’t enough emphasis on exercise, which boosts self-esteem and motivation and has a knock-on effect, she points out.
“Often when kids are overweight they don’t like to get into the gear, so parents should think of going out and exercising with them,” she suggests.
“It’s breaking my heart that there are 13- and 14-year-olds coming into me and they adore ballet and dance and they’re giving it up because they don’t want to wear a leotard. That is because they are all comparing themselves and with other images.”
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