Introduction to Body Image

Body image has a huge impact on the health of girls today. Body image can be affected by a myriad of things - family, friends, and the media to name a few.

For example, I've recently been reading this book called "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl" by Shauna Reid. The book is Shauna's story of how she had such a negative image of herself that she indulged herself in bad habits - 350 pounds worth of bad habits! When she decides that she's had enough of being obese she begins to change her lifestyle to lose the pounds and maintain a healthy weight. The part that I find interesting and relevant to the topic is that she goes into great detail of how she felt as a child. She believed that she was fat and her mother reinforced this idea. She was afraid to go swimming because she didn't want t0 be showing so much of her body, she began secretly binging, and she turned more inside of herself and away from her family, friends, and the world in general. Much of this is due to her negative self image. She recalls how, years later, she looked back at pictures from her childhood and discovered that she was a normal-looking, healthy-seeming child! She was so sure the whole time that she was fat that she let it inhibit her daily movements. Had she had a more positive image of herself, perhaps she would have been able to adopt healthier habits.

Like I said earlier, there are many things that influence your body image. For more information visit this awesome website!