by sabreming

Created on: October 24, 2008   Last Updated: July 31, 2010

Is it any wonder that teenagers grow up to have hang ups about their body image when you consider they are bombarded with images and advertisements from the time they begin to watch kids TV shows at a very young age. Dont forget miss Perfect Barbie and all her perfect, immaculately dressed friends who are all sporting the most absurd waist measurements and the latest accessories, boys action/hero toys and macho toys who also have ridiculous body types and egos to match.

We must not forget children being bullied or picked on because they don't appear to have the latest fashions, they aren't popular and are excluded from other groups. TV often has shows and movies where the underdog, geek or Cinderella comes out on top in a outlandish Fairy Tale ending, whilst getting revenge on anyone who had been mean to them during the story - this of course is a Fairy Tale but try telling young impressionable kids that.

When you think of advertising and the media you see that the kids shows on TV seem to grow shorter and the advertisements longer and louder. The shows often portray good looking kids all in the latest fashions, sporting the latest accessories. Should we really be that surprised when our children today feel they can't be seen out in cheap clothing if it doesn't have the 'right' brand stamped on it;

Junk food is highly promoted everywhere you go, from billboards, magazines to frequent TV advertisements and on the other hand there are countless surveys and articles on the obesity epidemic that the Western world is witnessing. What kind of mixed signals is this giving to our kids who then grow up to have body image problems from obesity, anorexia, bulimia or diet obsession?

Most of this is occurring long before they even hit puberty, which with hormonal changes in the body starts up another lot of problems and only intensifies their angst.

I am glad to see that some fashion designers and countries have taken a stance on the accepted sizes of Models. Its no secret that we look at pictures of models in the media be it film or magazines and sometimes wish that we....looked like that, had smooth skin like them. their facial features, the same body, flawless skin, one inch eyelashes, a washboard stomach, tanned and fit etc.,

What a lot of people don't know that not only has the picture being 'touched up' and manipulated to present a perfect image, but also if you ask a large percent of models what their flaws were, these same people we see as perfect would give you a list long of what they don't like about themselves and what they would like to change.

Yes these models were kids once which only goes to show just how strong a teenagers body image can be affected by the media.

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