Iris Cole interviews Prof. Ronit Lubetzky on childhood obesity (Walla system)
Body image is not a matter for girls only, but also for young boys.
In a study conducted this year in Great Britain by the charity foundation for the prevention of acts of suicide, it was found that 48 percent of men aged 16-40 suffer from a body image problem at a level "severe enough to affect their mental state".
The boys and men admitted that the issue of body image does concern them a lot, but they don't dare to discuss it with their family or friends.
The study also showed that boys are very similar to girls when it comes to uploading pictures online.
And yes, they too are greatly affected by negative reactions to their appearance.
Similar to girls, they too may absorb the judgment and criticism about body appearance and the common discourse in the media and may develop a negative self-image and even an eating disorder.
In 2019, a similar survey was conducted in Great Britain by the Mental Health Foundation, which revealed that 28 percent of men experience anxiety related to body image, 21 percent dress in a way that hides what they perceive as flaws in their body, 22 percent feel bad compared to other men, 11 percent report About suicidal thoughts on the background of a body image problem and 4 percent say they hurt themselves on this background.
48% of men aged 16-40 suffer from a body image problem.
Weight (Photo: ShutterStock)
Another study showed that boys and men are also exposed to the pressure exerted by social media and are deeply influenced by messages and norms surrounding external appearance.
This is why they also spend considerable sums of money on gym memberships, haircuts, beauty products and hair removal treatments.
An
equally surprising study was conducted by Lifestyle magazine among 1,000 women and men and shed new light on body image and self-love among the different genders.
The study found that while women looked at the mirror 16 times a day on average, men looked at themselves no less than 23 times a day.
The men admitted that they spend an average of 10 minutes a day in front of the mirror, which is equivalent to 6.5 days a year.
And if that's not enough, the study revealed that two-thirds of them use at least 3 beauty products, some of which are designed for women.
Adolescence: a stormy tango dance between the adolescent and his body
Body image concerns almost all of us, but it especially concerns young teenagers.
In the 1950s, "body image" was defined as the image of our body as we create it in our minds.
With the development of research in the field, the definition changed and the comparative element was added to it - body image is the way in which people perceive their body, but no less importantly, also the way in which those people estimate that it is perceived by others.
The great majority of us suffer from a negative body image, that is, dissatisfaction or a contradiction between the ideal of beauty we believe in and how we perceive our body.
It means that we don't just look in the mirror, not satisfied with what we see and move on, but we look and get upset.
And there is no more appropriate age than adolescence to be upset.
More in Walla!
This is why you absolutely mustn't tell your kids about their weight
To the full article
During puberty, the adolescent experiences a tsunami of physical, hormonal and emotional changes.
The body changes, the voice changes, the hair grows and he becomes more and more aware of his appearance.
This awareness intensifies not only because of the personal changes he experiences in himself but also due to comparison with his friends and trying to imitate prominent model figures on the net.
Dissatisfaction with one's appearance can lead to a significant decrease in self-confidence, harm one's mental health, affect one's studies and relationships, and this is before we even talked about the eating disorders, depression, and suicidal thoughts that may result from this.
One morning the teenager can feel on the edge of the world and an hour later, decide that he is not leaving the house with "this hair" or "there is no way I am wearing this ugly thing to a party."
Teenagers and social networks: not really a love story
Teenagers pay a heavy mental price following the use of Instagram, a platform that promotes a standard of appearance that cannot be achieved through edited photos, which are often disconnected from reality.
On Instagram you can find millions of posts about diets, plastic surgeries, "before" and "after" photos, fitness training and more, which convey one clear message - those who are thin are beautiful and successful.
Surfing the nets causes teenagers to live in a constant state of unconscious comparison with others and to feel that everyone else's life is good, beautiful and successful, while their own life is much less.
A study from England conducted in 2017 found that the images that celebs upload on social networks affect the body image of young people - more than 50 percent of teenagers felt insecure about their body image after following network influencers on Instagram.
What is troubling is that every decade, the age at which children begin this comparison process is decreasing and today you can find children as young as 6 years old trying to dress, fix their hair and take pictures in similar poses to those of the models and network influencers they follow.
When should we turn on a red light?
1. Extreme weight loss or gain
- parents are sometimes too busy to notice and suddenly, one day, notice that the child has gained or lost many kilograms. Extreme weight loss or gain has a high potential to become an eating disorder and what is behind it must be investigated. 2
. Obsessive behaviors of excessive preoccupation with food, weight, physical activity
- if you notice that one or more of these areas become the center of his world to an extreme (refuses to join the family meal at a restaurant, spends all his free time in the gym, etc.), this requires a thorough investigation. In this regard, It is also important to pay attention to his emotional reaction if you oppose these behaviors of his - if the emotional reaction is extreme and out of proportion, this is a warning light.
3. Statements of self-hatred -
Like "I'm ugly", "I hate my nose" - if it continues for a long time, there is something below the surface that should not be ignored, even if it is not accompanied by a visible behavioral or physical change.
In each of these cases, it is recommended to consult the family doctor who will also be able to refer to specialist doctors or specialized clinics, depending on the need.
Ofari Amit Vakanin is a clinical psychologist from the eating disorders clinic of Maccabi in Haifa
health
psychology
Tags
Child obesity
Eating Disorders
Body image