Mental health: How body image pressure for boys has led to rise in hospital case

“Paul Schilder’s definition of body image in the 1930s, as a subjective picture of how we perceive our own body, has remained pertinent today.  In a recent report on BBCs Newsround (23 November 2018), there was surprise at the figure regarding boys and body image.  This has certainly come as no surprise to mental health workers and schools.  However, it seems, not to the BBC as they reported a similar message in 2016 (Body image ‘a problem for boys’ says advertising think tank).  There has been a paradigm shift in the past few years where striving for the perfect body was previously considered positive to being pathologised as negative in terms of body dissatisfaction and the over-evaluation of appearance. 

There are a number of factors that explain this rise.  Previously, boys were not accurately recorded as having body image and eating problems in the pass – so the statistics are just catching up – and social media is clearly having an influence.  Cyber bullying, where personal attacks are made on a boy’s body image or ‘masculinity’ are more visible to a wider audience, whereas previously this would have been confined to a small population within a single school setting.  This, coupled with idealised images of icons and media personalities, lead boys to try and emulate the buff and tattooed images they see.  Gender typing – the process of becoming aware of one’s gender – has an influence, with one report finding 40% of boys in middle and high schools exercising regularly due to body image concerns.  This is most influenced by parents and other family members.

In order to help individuals with body image concerns, one must address these sociocultural factors.  A number of strategies are available to help both genders resolve body image problems.  In boys, addressing cultural ideals of masculinity, tackling low self-esteem and self-compassion have all be helpful.  Overall, there needs to be a broad strategy that reduces the pressures of media while educating family and teachers on positive body image messages.”

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