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A’Breya Young

Ms. Wilson

English II Honors

May 10th, 2019

How Self Body Images Affect Teens’ Self Esteem

On a daily basis, demeaning labels are placed upon people such as: skinny, fat, ugly, and so

on. This can definitely diminish an individual’s self esteem. In today’s society, teens struggle

with poor self body image which has been a major contributor to the rising rate of depression,

drug use, and even eating disorders. As a result and over time, some teens have fallen gravely ill

due to these unhealthy habits. The way others see their bodies and the way an individual think

they should look have also caused some teens to end their lives. This epidemic should be

addressed to not only help teens today but to also create a much more positive future for the

latter part of this generation.

Some teenage girls make unhealthy dieting decisions which lead to eating disorders.

They do this in order to lose weight instead of developing healthy eating habits to accomplish

weight loss goals. The author of the article, Are body issues affecting our adolescents,

states,“Body image dissatisfaction was there among 77.6% of the girls. It was found that factors

such as higher BMI, sociocultural pressure to be thin and depression were all significantly

associated with body image dissatisfaction. The most commonly followed weight control

behaviors were eating small meals and skipping meals.”(Ganesan). This quote reveals Ganesan

supports how girls are mentally supressed due to their perception of not feeling “ pretty” in the

eyes of peers. Although the writer of this article examines the unhealthy actions of teens, she also

tries to convey to readers that there is a solution to this problem. Many individuals will change
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out of caution and fear. Ganesan believes that if teens were to see a visual representation on how

disorders, such as bulimia, can affect the human body, they would stop. Teenagers should start

becoming more active before deciding to take the path of dieting so that they can have a more

healthy perspective on losing weight. Furthermore, it should be an effort to spread kindness. The

main reason why teens decide to go to such extremes to “fit in” is because of the hateful words

used toward them. If this were not the case the rate of teens developing eating disorders will

drastically decrease. Although girls account for the largest part of teenagers with eating

disorders, boys are not at all exempt from this.

Many male athletes struggle with addiction because of the prominence of steroid usage to

build muscle mass. In the article called, Teens and steroids: a dangerous mix the writer states,

“They're taking them to get strong, to get lean, to get validation, and to get scholarships”

(Mahoney). This quote supports the idea that athletes are under the pressure of becoming

stronger not only to impresses coaches, but mainly colleges. Due to the fact that muscle building

takes time and hard work, teenagers lean toward steroids and other performance drugs to

accomplish the job. One main solution the author addresses is that teens should become

involved in programs that teach students the long term effects of drugs. It was also revealed that

the author believes that all teens should not only be taught about negative peer pressure but

positive. This will give teenagers the motive to think rationally about negative outcomes.

Although there solutions are effective, limiting time on social media could help in decreasing the

use of steroids as well. When scrolling through social media sites, it is common to run across

posts that make teens insecure about their body shape. If teens were to stop using social media, it

would help them gain a love for themselves and actually look into reality rather than a screen.
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Low self seteem causes depression which makes teenages become inactive and less

social. In the article Girl Power, the author states, “one survey girls with low self-confidence

were found to be less likely to exercise every day than girls with high self-confidence” (Durrett).

The aforementioned quote supports the idea that teenagers with low self esteem tend to not

exercise as much compared to teen in a greater mental state. Furthermore, the quote supports

that teens rely on their reputation. In this case, girls will shield themselves in order to keep their

bodies in the dark. Durrett tries to convey that teenage girls to try and enjoy life and make an

effort to exercise and uplift one another with the reward of making a great impact with an

individual’s self esteem. Low self esteem can be prevented if teens socialize themselves in a

positive and kind group of people. Additionally, girls can just do something as small as give

others compliments which would not only impact a teen’s mental health, but their physical health

as well.

In summary, teens are emotionally suppressed due to them having poor self body

image brought on by low self esteem. Spreading hateful words associated with social labels such

as “fat” can trigger teens to turn to drugs, develop eating disorders and become inactive in order

to find any form of comfort. This can be prevented if teens were to spread kind words, join

groups in order to learn about the effects of unhealthy habits, and make an effort to become more

active.
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Works Cited

DURRETT, APRIL. "Girl Power." IDEA Health & Fitness Source, Nov. 2000, p. 19. Academic

OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A67050238/AONE?u=ncowl&sid=AONE&xid=030f7b5d.

Accessed 2 May 2019.

Ganesan, Subhashini, et al. "Are body image issues affecting our adolescents? A cross-sectional

study among college going adolescent girls." Indian Journal of Community Medicine, vol. 43,

no. 5, 2018, p. 42. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A566354870/AONE?

Accessed 2 May 2019

Mahoney, Diana. "Teens and steroids: a dangerous mix." Clinical Psychiatry News, June 2006,

p. 50+. Academic OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A149202688/AONE?u=ncowl&sid=AONE&xid=53629151.

Accessed 2 May 2019.