by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

We have talked about the effect of images in the media affecting our perception of beauty, and how influenced young girls are by what they see around them. It is worrying that girls as young as age 7 are worried about their bodies and the way they look. A UK study surveyed some 150,000 young girls between the ages 10 and 14 and 50% of the respondents said that their main concern was their figures or their bodies. Concepts like BMI (Body mass index) which are proven to be flawed because they do not take into account several factors tend to preoccupy a lot of young minds.

According to the BBC, this media pressure and peer presser affects boys as well and the perceived requirement of fit physical ideals can lead to eating disorders. According to Dr. Emma Halliwell, social psychologist at the Centre for Appearance Research, “For young girls it’s about being very thin. For boys this was about being muscular in tone.” While a lot of research is done on body image among girls and how it is affected by media and other pressure but what is often overlooked is that boys suffer a similar predicament, albeit to a lesser extent.

It was found that boys are as dissatisfied with their bodies as are girls; i.e. the levels of dissatisfaction are similar, however, boys are a demographic that are paid somewhat less attention in this respect. Eating disorders are on a rise among boys as well and Dr. Halliwell said “Because there are rising levels of eating disorders amongst boys, we need to find out where we can aim our interventions” and that “… people are now judging themselves harshly in terms of weight and that seems to be infecting boys too.”

As we women need to recognize that there is beauty in all our different shapes, sizes and hues; that we should embrace and celebrate them all; so perhaps do boys need to be sent the same message. Boys need to be sent the message that NOT EVERYONE CAN BE AN ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, and (not a body type I find even remotely sexy) and that that is far from the only desirable body type among men. I am sure many would agree with me in saying that that much muscular bulk may be attractive to some, but is far from any ideal!