Schools' Role in Improving Body Image
Schools can play a crucial role in changing school-wide attitudes of body image and satisfaction by implementing body positive programs and supporting students who are in need of help.
Schools are an important addition to body image prevention and intervention programs, because they have access to students' larger social community.
Programs that can reach more individuals increase in ability to change social norms for that whole population. Changing school-wide body image norms increases the likelihood for individual students to accept and internalize healthier body norms.
Schools can play a crucial role in changing school-wide attitudes of body image and satisfaction by implementing body positive programs and supporting students who are in need of help.
Schools are an important addition to body image prevention and intervention programs, because they have access to students' larger social community.
Programs that can reach more individuals increase in ability to change social norms for that whole population. Changing school-wide body image norms increases the likelihood for individual students to accept and internalize healthier body norms.
Peer Environment
Girls in the same friend cliques are found to have similar extreme weight loss, dieting and binge eating behaviors.
Perception of how much friends diet are particularly significant in the adaption of unhealthy weight control behaviors and body image concerns.
Behaviors that are considered socially valued by friends produce similarity in the group. For example, binging is less socially acceptable than dieting and is thus less likely to be consistent among friends.
The prevalence of girls attempting to lose weight within a school are also associated with unhealthy weight change behaviors for many adolescent girls.
Social norms influence students to change their behaviors in order to meet "cool" idealizations.
Social norms at the school level are found to be significant, especially for average-weight girls. Average weight girls are thought to feel most pressured by peers to engage in unhealthy weight loss techniques; overweight girls may be more influenced by BMI and underweight girls may not perceive social pressure to engage in unhealthy weight loss behaviors.
Since peer environment has a very influential role on eating and body issues in teens, schools are a prime place to reach the whole peer environment and mediate harmful body ideals and behaviors.
School programs should help change students’ perceptions of how much their friends partake in and value dieting.
Schools should focus on making healthy eating habits and body perceptions socially valued and common behaviors among friends, thus, adapting social norms of the peer environment.
Perception of how much friends diet are particularly significant in the adaption of unhealthy weight control behaviors and body image concerns.
Behaviors that are considered socially valued by friends produce similarity in the group. For example, binging is less socially acceptable than dieting and is thus less likely to be consistent among friends.
The prevalence of girls attempting to lose weight within a school are also associated with unhealthy weight change behaviors for many adolescent girls.
Social norms influence students to change their behaviors in order to meet "cool" idealizations.
Social norms at the school level are found to be significant, especially for average-weight girls. Average weight girls are thought to feel most pressured by peers to engage in unhealthy weight loss techniques; overweight girls may be more influenced by BMI and underweight girls may not perceive social pressure to engage in unhealthy weight loss behaviors.
Since peer environment has a very influential role on eating and body issues in teens, schools are a prime place to reach the whole peer environment and mediate harmful body ideals and behaviors.
School programs should help change students’ perceptions of how much their friends partake in and value dieting.
Schools should focus on making healthy eating habits and body perceptions socially valued and common behaviors among friends, thus, adapting social norms of the peer environment.