Parental Influence On Body Image

Is it not strange, how everyone is born to be different, and yet so much precedence is placed on having the ‘perfect’ body? Body image is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2016) as “the subjective picture of one’s own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others.” An individual has a distorted body image when they perceive their body in a negative and unrealistic way (Nordqvist, 2014). The value that society places on what is perceived to be the perfect body has taken its toll, especially on adolescent girls. A study in Malaysia found that 87.3% of adolescent girls from 15 to 17 years old experienced body size dissatisfaction (Soo et al., 2008), whereas 50-88% of adolescent girls in

The lack of a supportive mother-daughter relationship can affect a teenage girl’s perception of body image as mothers play an important role in instilling a healthy body image in their daughters (McCabe and Ricciardelli, 2005). Maternal intimacy has been shown to decrease weight concerns in adolescent girls (May et al., 2006).
Parents are important role models in their children’s lives. An adolescent may model their body perception based on their parents’ own body image dissatisfaction (Haines et al., 2008). Teenage girls who are explicitly encouraged to lose weight by their parents may mirror their weight management techniques such as dieting (Benedikt et al., 1998), leading to higher levels of body dissatisfaction (Stice and Whitenton, 2002).
The familiarity of being family may also, unfortunately, facilitate weight-related teasing that reinforces the societal value of appearance (Jones, Vigfusdottir and Lee, 2004). For instance, overweight children may be subjected to derogatory names over years. It is suggested that paternal teasing and pressure is an exceptional contributor to an adolescent’s perception of their body (Keery et al.,

Notably, distorted body image is a significant risk factor to various other negative outcomes in teenage girls, such as low self-esteem (Frost and McKelvie, 2004), depression (Paxton et al., 2006), and eating disorders (Cash, Melnyk and Hrabosky, 2004). According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2015), 12.5% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States experience depression and 2.7% of teens from 13-18 years old face an eating disorder, but most do not receive the treatment they need (Merikangas et al., 2010). The ubiquity of clinical disorders as is evident from these statistics is an alarming state that needs to be addressed. Therefore, it is paramount that proactive action is taken by all parties involved in order to rectify this