...... The ongoing message that people are to emulate the culturally stereotyped thin ideal is a threat to women's body image and self-esteem. "Who am I and how do I make a difference in the world?" has been replaced with "What should I look like and what image should I project?" (Kearney-Cooke & Striegel-Moore, 1992, p. 99).

...... Body image is one component of self-esteem that is the mind's representation of the body, mediated by multiple internal and external influences, with the ability to influence thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors. A negative body image is understood to reflect a perception of the body that may or may not be consistent with reality, but more importantly, has negative emotional implications (and negative physical implications) for an individual.

...... The development of negative body image is related to America's unrealistically thin ideal body type, the attempts to emulate this ideal, and society's intense fear of fat. Unfortunately, for many Americans the result is refusal to accept their own body and countless attempts to change it's appearance through ineffective and often harmful methods.

• Beginning in adolescence, body dissatisfaction in females is related to perceived weight and body measurements.
• Body satisfaction declines through adolescence, and continues declining through adulthood - particularly for women.
• Pressure to conform to the thin ideal is exerted via the media, health care professionals, and critical family members (particularly parents who fear their children will become fat adults).
• Negative body image is associated with behaviors that are potentially harmful to health such as dieting and exercise addiction.
• Health care professionals can help clients with weight-related issues understand the history of the thin ideal and the extreme pressures that society places on individuals to conform to this body type. Practitioners can avoid contributing to these pressures by employing a caring, non-judgmental attitude and by focusing interventions on overall physical, emotional, and spiritual health instead of body weight, shape and size. Helping clients learn to make healthy choices and develop a sense of acceptance, love, and respect for themselves is extremely important.

...... In the process of helping parents to become more accepting of a variety of body sizes and shapes, we will also be helping their children. Many of the pressures placed on children and adolescents come from family members who think they also have to emulate the thin ideal.

...... Employing measures to help clients become more accepting of themselves is the necessary beginning to the utilization of New Paradigm principles.

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© Fall 2001