BodyImageHealth.org - Promoting healthy body image attitudes; preventing eating and weight concerns.

A lot of progress has been made in the past 20 years in understanding body image and dysfunctional eating problems. Unfortunately, we have not seen the same progress in preventing these concerns. As a result, body dissatisfaction among American women is rampant, with up to 80% of adolescent girls feeling bad about their bodies and 70% saying they feel "fat." In efforts to control or shrink their size, 65 to 75% of the females in this country are on a calorie restrictive diet at any given time. Individuals who limit their eating for weight loss frequently miss out on important nutrients, are inevitably preoccupied with hunger pangs, and often feel like "failures" when their cravings for food naturally drive them to satisfaction. If this isn't bad enough, "feeling fat" and "dieting" for weight loss are the primary risk factors for eating disorders.

The negative impact of these problems is extending to younger and younger children. Studies report that almost half of 3rd to 6th grade girls now want to be thinner, regardless of size. At a time in their lives when children should feel secure in their body's growth, developing confidence in the habits that will help them to become healthy adults with healthy weights, American kids are pre-occupied with their body size, afraid that food will make them fat, and eat in ways that are detrimental to health and well being.

Confused by their own body angst, many mothers feel insecure about intervening, fearful that their budding daughters might be excluded for taking up too much space. Fathers do not know what to say when their naturally rounding girls ask "am I fat? " Boys are increasingly affected, as the national obsession with avoiding fatness has now become pervasive. No one of any age, gender or size can escape the continual barrage of messages to "lose some weight. "

Despite its known counterproductive nature, "dieting" continues to be embraced as the cure for the "wrong" body in the United States. Ironically, as the drive to be thin has resulted in the greatest weight loss efforts ever known to humankind, America has become the fattest nation on earth! Given our obvious failure in arriving at healthy weights, it is incredible that we are now exporting the "diet mentality" and the questionable products it has spawned to other cultures as well.

Clearly there is a lot wrong with this picture. We need to dramatically alter our approach to these problems. The good news is that we now know enough to do so! Based on the prevention principles recognized by experts in the field, the Model for Healthy Body Image was developed as a comprehensive guide to challenge cultural myths that promote unhealthy body images and eating. Tested both in classroom and clinical settings, this model has produced very promising outcomes.

BodyImageHealth.org will introduce you to a Model for Healthy Body Image, and provide you with a variety of resources to help children, adults, and yourself to develop healthy body image attitudes and positive eating habits.