We need to talk more about body image pressures young people face

The Herald Scotland

17-07-2025

Over the last academic year, the NSPCC's Childline service delivered nearly 3,500 counselling sessions focused mainly on disorders related to eating or body image.
Data on the age of the children involved was available for just under 80 percent of those sessions, and shows that nearly two-thirds of those seeking help were aged between twelve and fifteen.
Young people mentioned body image issues as part of broader discussions in nearly 1000 other sessions operated by Childline, with similar instances of children discussing restricting their food intake because of fears about the way they look.
The main topics being raised by those taking part in counselling included worries about weight, binge eating, purging, over-exercising – and the difficulty of accessing support services.
Examples include a fifteen year old boy who said: 'I hate my body. I wish it was more muscly, more manly. I go to the gym loads but I still feel uncomfortable in there knowing how small I look to everyone.'
Or a sixteen year old girl who explained: 'Seeing other girls' bodies in PE made me feel so fat besides them. I tried to ask my mum about losing weight and she was a bit dismissive, so I knew I needed to tackle it myself. I put myself on very low calories, which is working, but I have been fainting, feeling really exhausted, and stopped focusing at school. I think I know this isn't the right way to do it, but is it that bad if no one has even noticed I'm doing it yet?'
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And there's the twelve-year-old girl who said: 'This girl at school would always call me fat. My friends are all skinny, the girls I see on TikTok are skinny. I started purging and skipping meals last year and I'm finally skinny, but mum finally noticed and gets angry when I don't eat properly. I can't go back to eating 3 meals a day again, I can't go back to being fat.'
For 24-year-old Lauren (not her real name) from Glasgow, whose struggles with body image began nearly twenty years ago, it took the intervention of a friend for her to seek help, and even then it wasn't easy to find the right support:
'From as young as five, I was having body image insecurities. I would look at different parts of my body and think it wasn't good enough or try to measure the size of my stomach.
'When I got to secondary school my eating disorder habits started, and I began to manipulate my food intake.
'Restricting my food intake was a way of staying in control. I would have juice and water throughout the day in school and then go home and have my dinner so no one would notice. I was trying to be as secretive about it as possible.
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'When I was at university and the pressure started to build academically, I felt I needed to put more discipline into my routine and that included food, exercise and weight loss. I started calorie counting and restricting my food intake again.
'I ended up unconscious after a night out due to the impact on my body from not eating, alongside drinking alcohol. The next day my friend booked me a doctor's appointment, came with me and spoke on my behalf because she was so worried.
'Then I was admitted to an NHS specialised treatment programme for eating disorders. Unfortunately, I didn't find the service very helpful and eventually sought private support instead.'
The NSPCC has issued some advice points for parents and guardians that include being mindful of how we speak about our bodies, focusing on health rather than appearance, taking concerns seriously, discussing unrealistic portrayals in the media, and seeking support when needed.
Young people, meanwhile, are told about the importance of speaking to people about their feelings and asking for help when they are struggling, as well as trying to limit the extent to which they compare themselves to others.
But that's all easier said than done, especially now.
Magazine content and television culture had a devastating impact on many people's body image during past decades, but algorithmic social media is probably more powerful and more poisonous than either of them.
For some reason we still don't take this problem as seriously as we should, even though we probably all know someone who has struggled with body image and eating disorders, and despite the recent increases in the number of children and young people hospitalised with eating disorders.
We don't talk enough about the pressures that so many young people experience when it comes to body image, or the ways in which our culture adds to the burden, and in that silence exists a great deal of pain, suffering, and tragedy.
The only way to start to fix the problem is to talk about it. For the sake of our children, that's what we should do.
Young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or via 1-2-1 chat on www.childline.org.uk
Adults with concerns about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing [e-mail].