More kids are tempted to use drastic measures to improve their looks
A quarter of girls and boys aged between 11 and 16 would have cosmetic surgery to improve their looks, according to the Central YMCA, it has been reported.
Further stats indicate an increased willingness to use drastic measures in order to feel better about their appearance, including findings such as:
- of 810 girls and boys aged 11 to 16, one in ten boys would take steroids for a more muscular physique, while one in eight girls would be happy to pop diet pills or laxatives to help them to lose weight.
- Over 50% of girls and more than a third of boys said they compared their bodies with those of celebrities on TV.
- About a quarter of both girls and boys even said they would be willing to undergo cosmetic surgery to achieve their ideal look”, the report said.
While puberty is hitting children younger and younger, at 16 a child’s body has barely filled out into adulthood, and most children have not yet developed muscles or lost their early-teen figures.
Skinny loveA key challenge was the increase in the way boys were becoming susceptible to
body-image problems, and, and that, parallel to these figures,
eating disorder cases have doubled over 15 years.
Body-image challenges even extend to school performance: a recent study by the Centre for Appearance Research found that one-third of teenagers will not join in a classroom debate to avoid drawing attention to the way they look, while a fifth said they would stay away from school on days when they are concerned with their appearance.
These trends are on the increase in South Africa, too. Despite parents being more aware of the importance of nurturing their children, the pressure on kids to meet physical criteria for acceptance has surged.
Is your child comfortable with the way he or she looks?
By: Scott Dunlop