Body image is how we think and feel about ourselves, based on our beliefs about how we look, and how we think others see us.
Sometimes we’re happy with how we look, we like our body and feel confident, and sometimes we really don’t. Feeling bad about how we look, having a negative body image, can have a big impact on our confidence and how we feel about ourselves. How we feel about our body is influenced by lots of things including other people, social media and advertising. This can be particularly tricky during the teenage years, due to a natural urge to want to fit in with friends and those around us.
Having a negative body image can result in us making unhealthy choices and developing habits that are not good for us. A negative body image can have a big impact on our day to day life, how we think and feel, and can cause mental health problems. However, there are things that we can do to fight back against this, and work towards establishing a more positive body image.
