Currently, one of the biggest problems that teenagers battle with, is body image. In Australia alone, children as young as 11, 28% males and 35% females, are unhappy or dissatisfied with their bodies. Body image was found to be one of the top concerns of teenagers in Mission Australia’s Youth Survey 2016. Teenagers are being exposed to advertisements, videos and pictures which set unrealistic beauty expectations and standards.

Today, teenagers spend an average total of 18 hours per week on social media, watching TV or flicking through the pages of a magazine. Many of these will have pictures or videos of flawless models. Most of these pictures are heavily edited or photo shopped to make the model look better. They set an unrealistic standard for teens and encourage low self-esteem and have them obsess over having a perfect body. 80% of girls that I talked to, said that they have been influenced by media and beauty standards. This is a large number of teens affected, and the numbers will only get higher. I can guarantee that if you flick through the pages of a magazine, more than half of them will have edited pictures of skinny, flawless models, rather than a plus-size model. Popular magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan, have been caught photoshopping images of models to make them look better. An example of this is, when Cosmopolitan was caught photoshopping Lili Reinhart without her permission. Most TV shows and movies only use skinny and fit actors for the leading roles, which also impacts teenagers body image. Teenagers are being shown the same message repeatedly, you are not good enough.

Because of these ‘ideal’ body types and perfect models, many teenagers obsess over having the perfect or ideal body. There can be many consequences that can come with the desire to be perfect. Research has linked that being constantly exposed to images of underweight and beautiful people, can lead to some severe mental disorders. Some of these include anxiety, un-healthy eating habits and a decreased self-esteem. In a survey by Girlguiding, more than half of girls aged between 16 to 21, said that they would undergo surgery to improve their bodies to fit their ideal body type. While many people develop eating disorders, some teenagers can even experience depression and go as far as to have suicidal thoughts. As a teen myself, I for one know that no teenager should have to go through this. A survey that was conducted in 2009 by, found that girls who were unhappy with their bodies, are at a much higher risk of suicide.

Performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs), such as steroids, are also taken to improve one’s appearance. People who use these steroids and pills are at risk of many physical and psychological effects, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, kidney damage and a blood-borne virus. Poor body image and low self-esteem can lead to a low level of confidence, which can result in many problems in your professional and personal life. It can also lead to developing un-healthy habits such as smoking, excessive drug and alcohol use and over-eating or not eating enough.

Poor body image is a lot of the time, the cause of developing eating disorders and other severe mental health issues. The effects that poor body-image can have on a teenager’s well-being, can no longer be disregarded. Teenagers must learn to love their bodies and not want to change them just to fit unrealistic standards. Promoting positive body image is a must, if we want teenagers to stop comparing themselves and love themselves and their bodies.