Teen Body Image Issues: Here’s How to Help Cope With Them

In a world that is heavily dependent on social media and its trends to shape their lives, teenagers are the ones who are heavily affected and feel stuck when it comes to body image. Children at this age face a lot of pressure from society to meet its unrealistic expectations of beauty, shape, weight, height and everything in between. They constantly strive for a perfect body, which greatly affects their physical and mental health. Here’s how teens can learn to deal with body image issues.

The term body image refers to the way people feel, think and perceive their bodies. When a child enters adolescence, it becomes difficult to maintain a certain body type and beauty due to the great physical and emotional changes that occur during this period of life. If children develop a negative thought pattern, they fall victim to problems such as depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, low productivity in school, and the list goes on.

Health Shots contacted Dr. Kamna Chhibber, a clinical psychologist, to understand the ways in which we can help development healthy body image in the teenage years.

Ways to help teenagers develop a healthy body image

Teenagers are the most vulnerable group. They tend to develop low self-esteem about their bodies because they try to set unrealistic standards very high. However, our expert shares a few ways parents and tutors can help them distinguish between the real and the fake to better understand reality.

1. Get a reality check

The expert says: “You talk about what teenagers see in the media as the images that are portrayed and can be unrealistic ideals for teenagers. Share with them how digital manipulation works on media and tell them about using filters to create certain types of images.”

Children tend to believe everything they see in the media without clarifying their facts by checking what is going on behind the scenes. So when they fall prey to social media pressure, the onus is on the elders to give them a reality check. This will help them overcome body image issues.

Read also: Body positivity: What to say or do if your partner has a negative body image

2. Help them focus on their unique qualities

We all have our share of strengths and weaknesses, and imperfections make us unique. It’s the same with teenagers. We need to help them recognize who they are in a healthy way by emphasizing other qualities that contribute to making them the people they are. We need to encourage them to focus on the positive aspects of themselves, their achievements and skills and the relationships they have built.

3. Help them become problem solvers

When you find that your teen is deep in the vortex of low body esteem, shake him out of his immobility by motivating him to focus on what he can do for his body in terms of health and fitness, rather than staying focused on what they look like. If they suffer from any illness or any underlying problem, ask them to use it as an excuse to live a healthy lifestyle with good eating habits.

4. Be careful what you put into their minds

Teenagers are sensitive and extremely vulnerable during this period of their lives. “Be mindful of the language you use and don’t shame or embarrass your teen because of their eating habits or body type. Be a positive role model yourself so that your teenager can easily understand and have a positive body image,” suggests the expert.