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Recommended: How the media negatively affects body image

Negative body image is becoming a very serious problem in today’s society. Having body image issues can affect an individual in many ways, such as their physical and social health, mind and well-being, lower self-esteem and can cause depression. People who have body image issues are now developing eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and use of steroids. Because of this, action is being taken by the Government by putting in a Voluntary Code of Conduct, which encourages the mass media to take positive action. This includes having a very diverse model selection, using the original images of people instead of using Photoshop to make them look perfect. It is good that action is being taken upon this issue, but the problem is that it is voluntary. In addition, factors other than the media can also influence a person’s well-being. There are many different perspectives on the topic of body image. One of the views about body image is how one thinks or feels about their body (primarily in a negative point of view). Another perspective is how someone thinks society feels about their body. In addition, body image is an issue for many people in society. The people that develop body image issues are mainly adolescents for the reason that youths are becoming more and more insecure about their body. Because of body image issues, nearly 9 per cent of the Australian population has an eating disorder and almost 1 in 5 students suffer from bulimia nervosa because of body image issues. Nearly 19 per cent of these students die from this condition. There are many factors which contribute to negative body image such as family, school, social networks, but the main cause of negative body image is the media. The me... ... middle of paper ... ...onment. This is a better than the Voluntary Code of Conduct because raising awareness in schools will educate adolescents about the health outcomes. This can be achieved in many ways such as the Government funding programs to schools and having a body image curriculum implemented in the school or asking health experts to talk about health outcomes of body image issues. Unfortunately, barriers will be encountered if these solutions were to be implemented. One barrier could be finding money to provide for the resources, health experts and to professionally develop the teachers about this issue. The Government will have to fund all of these programs which will be expensive, but it will help the Government in the long run. Therefore, the National Strategy on Body Image should focus more on communities such as schools rather than the Voluntary Code of Conduct.

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