Body image is an individual’s perception of his or her own body. It involves what we think and how we feel about our body, height, shape, size, and weight. It can also mean how we think others see us. Body image can either be positive or negative. According to statistics, body image especially among females has been largely negative. Befort and Rickard (2003) stated that women look to others for evidence of their competence more than did men, and therefore more easily influenced by all types of feedback. Negative Body Image A negative body image is a distorted perception of the whole or some parts of the body unlike they really are. It is a personal conviction that one’s body size or shape does not meet up to a standard. It involves a feeling of awkwardness in one’s body. Negative body image is characterized by irrational believe of being too fat, intense fear of obesity and weight gain, obsessive self scrutiny in mirror, thinking degrading comments about one’s body, frequent comparison of one’s body shape and size to other people’s, etc. According to a source, more than 90% of girls-15 to 17 years- want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance, with body weight ranking highest. However, some girls realize that they are thin but are habitually haunted by certain parts of their body they believe to be fat like the breasts, stomach, thighs, and buttocks. Causes of Negative Body Image – Television programs, billboard advertisement, magazine pictures, movies, and newspaper have in a never-ending manner equated attractiveness, happiness, love, competence, and even success to having an ultraslim body. Many adolescents who wish to achieve all these therefore set unrealistic body standard for themselves. – A comment from a well meaning friend or relative suggesting that a person seems to be gaining weight can result in having a negative image of the body especially among those seeking social acceptance. – Pressure of having to maintain a certain weight to look attractive or competent on a job can also lead to having both unrealistic and negative body image. For example, this is predominant among receptionists, waitresses, models, air hostesses, etc. – Even children dolls often portray an extremely thin and distorted body image. This can make children set an unhealthy body standard for later years. Many people are overly vulnerable to these influences for genetic, psychological, and physical reasons and may be more likely than others to develop unhealthy behaviours. Unhealthy Behaviours Because of their intense fear of becoming fat resulting from how they perceive their body, many adolescent girls develop the following harmful behaviours: – Obsession to be thin – Helplessness in the presence of food – Pretending to eat and lying about eating – Leaving table immediately after eating so that they can vomit – Taking appetite suppressants – Fasting and rigid dieting – Excessive use of laxatives, diuretics or enemas – Excessive exercise with weight loss goal The above behaviours are characteristic symptoms of some eating disorder like Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, etc. which can negatively affect health. Health Consequences Contrary to the general belief, people with negative body image with its resultant unhealthy behaviour are greatly susceptible to having a compromised nutritional status and many health problems. These include: – Lowered body temperature and cold intolerance caused by loss of fat insulation – Slower metabolic rate as a result of decreased synthesis of thyroid hormone – Iron deficiency anemia from a deficient nutrient intake – Skin with many bruises because of the loss of protection from fat layer normally present under the skin – Low white blood cell count caused by deficient nutrient intake which increases the risk of infection. -Low blood potassium caused by deficient nutrient intake, loss of potassium from vomiting, use of some types of diuretics. This increases the risk of heart rhythmic disturbances – Loss of menstrual period because of low body weight and low body fat content. – Eventual loss of teeth caused by acid erosion from frequent vomiting – Muscle tears and stress fractures in athletes because of decreased bone and muscle mass BOTTOM LINE: having a negative body image cannot benefit anyone but can rather be at a cost that may too expensive to pay, in terms of poor health, or even death in some cases. It is therefore wise to have a positive and realistic perspective our body image and eat adequately to meet our energy and nutrients need. Reference Befort , C.A. & Rickard, K.M. Sex Roles (2003) 49: 71. COURTESY: OGEDENGBE Funminiyi Samuel NUTRITION DYNASTY www.funutdiet.

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This post is so informative. The trend of girls wanting to look a certain way is indeed disheartening. Forget what you see on billboards, magazines and the likes. Most of those girls go through cosmetic surgeries to look that way. It is good to have a healthy weight which can be achieved by careful selection of good and nutritous diets as well as exercising. But not going the deleterious line of taking weightloss pills, vomiting, taking of diuretics, starvation and the likes. If kim kardashian, nicki minaj, j-lo and most runway models tell you what they do to look that way, then you would know that it is not worth it.
We men don't have much problems.

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