As women, we all want to look and feel our best. This is not always easy, considering the busy life today's woman leads and the many responsibilities she may have. It can be tough to find time for exercising and eating right, not to mention controlling stress! Sometimes women can feel pressured to look and feel a certain way. We live in a culture in America that puts much emphasis on physical appearance. Youth is admired as well - not just in terms of age but also in terms of young attitudes and outlooks on life and physical fitness. Developing and nurturing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to our happiness and wellness, as we move through the different stages of our lives.

Body image and our health and well being Our health, which we sometimes can and cannot control, affects not just how we feel but how we look. Our body image - how we feel about how we look - can change when we have a health condition or illness, such as a skin disease or a disease like cancer. The good news is that information truly is power. Learning about how our health affects our body image is an important first step in developing a positive body image. As we live longer lives and enjoy far greater social, economic, and reproductive freedom than women have ever before, our risk for chronic diseases and other health concerns increases. Chronic diseases and health concerns can have an affect on a woman's body image. Pregnancy and menopause, natural life events women experience, can also affect body image.

Take care of your health! Develop a positive body image! The National Women's Health Information Center has provided you with information to help you take care of your health and to develop a positive body image. The following resources focus on some of the top health concerns that can affect a woman's body image. Information and resources are provided for each health concern. For additional topics, please visit our A- Z Search.A- Z Search

Are you happy with who you are? Positive body image and a healthy mental attitude play an important role in a woman's happiness and wellness. Health care providers, teachers, researchers, and other professionals are helping women to nurture their minds, bodies and all aspects of their lives. Women tend to have more anxiety about their self-image than do men. Ninety percent of people with eating disorders are adolescents and young adult women. A woman's poor body image can also be make worse by standards about beauty in popular media (TV, magazines, movies). Many professionals recommend that women take the time to do something nice for themselves at least once a day, everyday. Because we realize it is important for a woman's health and happiness to feel good in mind and body, the National Women's Health Information Center has provided the following body image and mind/body wellness information.

ource: Arttoday.com The male torso reigns as the decade's most powerful crossover image — appealing to men, women, gays, and straights alike. Men Body Image

Body Image: Men Worry But men don't just worry that they are too fat; many worry that they are too thin. Researchers at McLean Hospital have just defined a body-image distortion disorder that they liken to "reverse anorexia." Called muscle dysmorphia, the syndrome appears in athletes (both male and female) who, despite being dramatically muscular, are convinced that they are too small. Imagine a bodybuilder — 250 pounds, 20-inch biceps, 6 percent body fat — horrified to take his shirt off for fear he looks out of shape