Self-Esteem and Body Image By: Tommy Wells, Qiana Miller, and Stephanie Meyer

How do self-esteem and body image relate? Self-esteem is all about how much you feel you are worth — and how much you feel other people value you. Self-esteem is important because feeling good about yourself can affect your mental health and how you behave. Body image is how you view your physical self — including whether you feel you are attractive and whether others like your looks. For many people, especially people in their early teens, body image can be closely linked to self-esteem.

What influences Self-Esteem and Body Image? Puberty and development Media images and other outside influences Families and schools

Brief Statistics Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives (Neumark-Sztainer, 2005).􏰧􏰧 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).􏰧 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).􏰧 􏰧 46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets (Gustafson-Larson & Terry, 1992).

Causes of negative body image in Men: The emphasis on male sports players as role models for boys Promotion by society of the ideal man as always being strong, lean and muscular Teasing in childhood and adolescence (for being too thin, too weak or too fat) Causes of negative body image in Women: Having a mother who's overly concerned about her own weight or her daughter's weight or appearance Natural weight gain and other changes caused by puberty Peer pressure to look a certain way Media images that promote the ideal female body as thin The men below have learned to love and appreciate their bodies. The women below have learned to love and appreciate their bodies.

Effects of a negative body image on students Depression, anxiety, mood disorders Lose interest in activities and/or friends Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia Use of drugs to escape feeling of low worth

When working with the high the school population on a positive body image there are several resources that one may turn to: * http://www.Prettybrowngirls.com * http://www.Seventeen.com/health/peace *http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/Dove-Real-Role-Models/default.aspx

Tips for a Healthy Body Image Own your body Identify realistic things about your body that you can Tell yourself to stop with the negative comments Build your self-esteem

Body Image Resilience Model: 5 Protective Factors Family and Peer Support Gender Role Satisfaction Global and Physical Self-Esteem Coping Strategies and Critical Thinking Skills Holistic Wellness and Balance (Choate, 2008)

Intervention Body Image and Self-Esteem among Adolescents undergoing an Intervention Targeting Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors Awareness of health risk and subsequent adoption Targeting physical activity, sedentary, and dietary behaviors Body Dissatisfaction (Eating Disorder Inventory and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Baseline Data Univariate Analyses between demographic variables and Body Image and Self-Esteem

All men and women are created differently with no one perfect body image for any one person. Please join me in taking the quiz titled “Self Esteem Quiz” to see how you actually rate your body image. Go to www.selfesteemexperts.com and click on the “Self Esteem Quiz” . Let’s now discuss your responses.