Family Life

body image and eating disorder awareness week

Posted on September 6, 2011

This week is The Butterfly Foundation’s annual Body Image & Eating Disorder Awareness Week (BIEDAW). The aim, put simply is to raise awareness about the seriousness of Eating Disorders

So today, this week, maybe even for the next few, I want to raise your awareness.

Some of you may be aware

Some of you may not

Some of you may have experience with Eating Disorders in some way

It’s happening younger

More and more young girls and boys are wondering how they look, how concerned their friends will think how they look, the pimple, the blemish, their hair….

Concerns are higher

Influences and pressures are higher

Here are some alarming statistics provided by The Butterfly Foundation and Eating Disorders Victoria:

– Nationally, body image is the top ranking issue of concern for 15 – 19 year olds

– 90% of 12 – 17 year olds females are on a diet of some type

– Beyond Stereotypes, a 2005 study commissioned by Dove, surveyed 3,300 girls and women between the ages of 15 and 64 in 10 countries. They found that 90% of all women aged 15 to 64 worldwide want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance, with body weight ranking the highest.

– According to the National Eating Disorder Association, in the United States, eating disorders are more common than Alzheimer’s disease (5-10 million people have eating disorders compared to 4 million with Alzheimer’s disease).

– Anorexia Nervosa is the third most common chronic illness for adolescent girls in Australia (after obesity and asthma).

So today I ask you to think how you can raise awareness of positive body image for your child?

Think about what role you play – you are the best role model for your children! Be a role model of healthy behaviours and attitudes toward food, weight and body image. Are you happy in yourself? And if not, how is this displayed to your children?

Talk to your children about their self – image. Don’t shy away. Offer reassurance that body shape varies from individual to individual – no body is exactly the same!

Educate them about media literacy and the images and photos they see in magazines and TV – photos are enhanced, modified, glorified. What you see is NOT real!

For some more tips and tools and fabulous informative fact sheets, check out Eating Disorders VIctoria.

Nothing is too small! Every conversation matters!

What does positive body image mean to you?

Im linking up with My Big Nutshell for I blog on Tuesdays who is hosting on behalf of Diary of a Stay At Home Mum :)

Tahlia xx

body image

Tahlia

I like red wine, coffee and a good book {not necessarily in that order}. Mum to 2 rugrats, ex-psychotherapist turned tech entrepreneur.

http://www.wherethefairieslive.com Sif

What great information! I’ve struggled with body image all my life – all my life until somewhere between July and November last year. Somewhere in that time I finally learned to love my body just as it is. Finding clothes I love that actually fit me and are designed to flatter my size 20-22 frame made a huge different. My boys have seen my struggle with my image and seen me losing a lot of weight (32kg) and be miserable, and now they seem me happier and more confident than ever at over 100kgs. We talk about size and weight versus health and well being. They still young, but i think they have a relatively good sense of themselves beyond their size or weight.
- tahlia
  
  Sif thankyou for sharing your thoughts and story. Learning to love your body can take time, for many of, we may never find this. No matter what size they are.
  
  I think we all need to focus more on health and wellbeing and not size and weight. I think we are slowly moving there with a healthier society and greater awareness into this. I needed and positive move!
  
  It is great to hear your kids know there is more then size and weight… who we are, goes way beyond this.
http://www.theurbanmum.blogspot.com TheUrbanMum

Where to begin. So many years – up & down. So many days wasted – wishing I was this or that.
Now I’m a Mum – health is the priority and guess what – the weight stays relatively stable as a result.
So the example I set is move, eat well and mindfully and above all enjoy. Embrace life. Wonderful post. Thank you.x
- tahlia
  
  isn;t it funny that when you feel more content, happy and healthy you just feel it. Embracing life is the key to so many experiences and journeys
Fiona

I am lucky I have never had weight issues other than being underweight my whole life, due to sheer luck. I do not practice good eating habits or exercise much and I am someone that people often go well “You wouldn’t know” or some other nasty thing.
What I worry is that I have two girls and I need to make sure that they go beyond looks and i try an focus on how they got themselves dressed. My four year old is really into do I look pretty and I have to look pretty and I worry that I may have said things to incite that thought in her.
My mother in law commented on my very big babies and how she didn’t want them to grow up like Maggie T. I said on the contrary I would be most proud if they could be as beautiful, talented and successful as Maggie T. My girls are healthy, their dad has always struggled with weight and now i know why.
I heard a report recently that many young boys 10 and under are also presenting with eating disorders. We need to focus more on health rather than the measurement of someones size or weight as they are not the sole indicators. As the first reader said her emotional health is better now for accepting herself to be the beautiful unique person that she is. We all are.
- tahlia
  
  we often don’t talk about the young boys experiencing eating disorder concerns and challenges. It is frightening. And probably much more then what the statistics show.
  
  Health is such a broad term and very individual. Accepting yourself is the lessons I hope we can all instil in our children. It is this message that many of the school programs also aim for. Healthy is not just about weight and size as you say. Healthy is also about mind, body and spirit and an ultimate happiness and contentment in one self.
  
  Thanks for your comments Fiona x
http://mixedgems.net Veronica @ Mixed Gems

Thanks for sharing the resources. I really support the point about media literacy in particular. apart from the examples we set at home as role models, it’s going to be the social and peer pressure that will prey on our children’s confidence. I have two young girls and am very mindful of this.

I grew up seeing my mum struggle with her weight. I got quite chubby by 10 but thankfully shot up soon after so it all spread out. I then went the other way i my early teens, not having a traditional eating disorder but disordered eating habits.

Looking back, I wish I’d understood my relationship to food and my body from a health aspect. I hope I can model that to my kids. Even now I know both hubby and I have to work on that since we are both prone to eat too much junk food.
http://www.theparentingfiles.com.au tahlia

it is scary the amount of social and peer pressure, as well as media pressures our young kids are exposed to today.

To be able to have your own experience to look back on and be mindful of this in helping your own children is something truely valuable. Relationship with food is vital. How one sees food, the value and also why me may or may not indulge in certain foods.

It is all about education.

By instilling greater confidence in our children hopefully they will be able to fight the challenges of peers and media a whole easier.

Thanks for your comments :) x

body image and eating disorder awareness week

Tahlia

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