Healthy body image: Tips for guiding girls

A healthy body image is an important part of a growing girl’s self-esteem. Understand what you can do to help your daughter feel comfortable with her body.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Girls today face significant pressure to be physically attractive and have a perfect body. As a result, many girls feel dissatisfied with their bodies and are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. There are steps you can take, however, to encourage your daughter to love her body, regardless of its shape or size. Find out what you can do to help girls develop and maintain a healthy body image.

Causes of a negative body image

Maintaining a healthy body image during adolescence is often difficult for girls. Factors that may harm a girl’s body image include:

• 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
• Being teased about her weight

Consequences of a negative body image

If your daughter doesn’t feel she lives up to the ideal body image promoted by friends, family and the media, she may begin to feel inadequate and ashamed of her body — even if she’s not overweight. Girls who feel dissatisfied with their bodies are at higher risk of developing mental health problems, including:

• Low self-esteem
• Depression
• Eating disorders

Having a negative body image also may lead to skipping meals or a cycle of dieting, losing weight and regaining weight — which can further harm self-esteem. A negative body image may even result in a desire for cosmetic surgery. Some research suggests a link between body dissatisfaction among girls and cigarette smoking, possibly because girls may believe that smoking will help them control their weight. Having a negative body image also may affect a girl’s comfort with her sexuality as she grows.