New UK report finds girls as young as five worry about their body image
[Brussels, 30 May 2012] A new UK parlliamentary report has found that half the entire population suffers from negative body image and that girls as young as five routinely worry about their looks.
Negative body image is linked to eating disorders. There is a strong gender equality dimension to this health risk, with women representing between 75% and 90% of sufferers. Among those with eating disorders, 10% are anorexic and 40% are bulimic; the rest fall into the ‘Eating disorder not otherwise specified’ category, which includes binge-eating disorder.
More information:
- Girls aged five worry about their body image, say MPs, in The Guardian, 30 May 2012
- Tackling the causes, article by Leanda Barrington-Leach of the EWL in the Parliament Magazine, 26 September 2011
- EWL work on Women and Media
