The other day, I was looking through the mortgage rates forecast for the GTA and came across an interesting article on body image in children and social media. I was so impressed with what the research had to say, I thought I’d share some of the bigger takeaways with you.
It seems that 10,000 Ontario students were studied and that 33% percent of boys and girls were feeling pressure to lose weight and the culprit for these negative messages was often the social media channels they belonged to.
Here’s a few disturbing trends I found:
- Of the adolescents that were questioned by Common Sense Media, a full 35% worried they would be tagged as unattractive in social media.
- Another 22% felt bad when no one had a comment or like for the photos they post.
- Teens of both genders (27%) feel stressed about how they look when they post any pictures.
If all this sounds depressing, take heart because there are some things that you can do as parents. What goes on under the roof of the house you’re thinking about buying is just as important as the mortgage rates forecast we’ll use to get you the keys. That said, I wanted to post a few of the tips I found to help counteract these messages.
- Consume the media with them whenever possible. Taking an active role when you can helps to get a good idea of the social networks they frequent.
- When they get old enough, encourage them to take an active role in the online media by making their voices heard. It’s a good way for teens to define what they see as important.
You can do your part as parents by supplying more than just a roof over their heads. Being a good role model means avoiding self-criticism and never teasing a child about their weight.
