Script- Finnlea Murphy

[[It has become so normal, so everyday, for people to worry about what they look like that it is easy to ignore the real problems this creates. Growing up in a society where mass media is fixated on a narrowly defined image of beauty and the celebrities that embody it is damaging the outlook and self-esteem of our children and teenagers – and adults are not immune to these concerns. Of course, individuals differ in their confidence and resilience. But research shows that many people – particularly young people – are having their self-confidence corroded by the belief that their looks are the most important thing about them.]] 

[[We use the term body confidence to describe the extent of an individual’s positive regard for their body, their integrated sense of body and self, and the extent to which their personal value is tied up with their physical appearance. Someone with low body confidence is likely to be dissatisfied with the way they look, overestimate the importance and value of matching current cultural beauty ideals, and spending excessive time and energy being self-conscious and invested in their appearance.]]

In 2001, a survey about about body confidence was given to 13,000 students aged between 15 and 18. The results showed that 19% of students had considered suicide and 9% had attempted it. That means that 1224 students attempted suicide because they were self conscious about their weight.  

Another study showed that 77.1 percent of obese and 54.2 percent of overweight teenagers had an accurate perception of what they weighed. This raises the question, how much does this actually effect us?

There are a number of internal factors – how they think about themselves, and external factors – fashion, social media and relationships that effect body confidence within teenagers.

Body confidence is a big factor amongst teens in today's society. There seems to be an increase in girls and boys that feel body image impacts their life in a major way. 

We got the chance to interview students attending The Sixth Form College Solihull and gain their ideas on how they feel body confidence applies to them. We asked them questions that we feel body confidence may have an influence on. 

So ask yourselves, is this major factor of most teenagers lives something that effects you? 

In a world obsessed with fashion, feminism and self empowerment why are so many of us unhappy with our bodies?  A study done by Katherine A Phillips in 2006 showed that there are equal amounts of men and women that have body dimorphic disorder (BDD) proving that gender does not effect how people see their bodies.

A problem that many teenagers have these days is how much influence they allow celebrities to have on their body confidence. Most teens seem to have a celebrity idol which may or may not influence the way they view their body.

These celebrity influences in some cases can have a very negative effect on the well being of an individual. Most teenagers are very active on social media, this allows them on a daily basis to view photos and videos of popular, attractive, healthy people. A study showed that women experience an average of 13 negative thoughts about their body each day, while 97% of women admit to having at least one "i hate my body" moment each day.

We interviewed Janice Hamilton, Vice principle of the sixth form and designated member of staff for the safe guarding of students about the way she feels education has an influence on teenagers body confidence today and how it may of effected her when she was of the same age.

Society is placing pressure on young people to conform to unrealistic expectations about body image; and we can see the results of this in the classroom. Many young people have such low self-esteem that they are not able to enjoy their time at school or reach their full academic potential.

We asked students how they feel body confidence affects popularity in education and on social terms within society today.

We interviewed Julie Maitland an Academic coach and student development coordinator at the sixth form about her feelings towards how body confidence effects students.

A lot of pressure is put on teenagers to look good by social media, social networking and even other teenagers. *insert facts and figures*

Sabina Vatter, a postgraduate student at Tallinn University in Estonia conducted research into the way partners feel about their body within relationships. She found that both women and men are more confident with their bodies when in a stable relationship. 

After the break we will be interviewing a psychologist on how she feels body confidence effects people mentally and physically.