While initiatives that support people fostering a healthy body image, like the body positivity and body neutrality movements, are more prominent than ever — and more and more celebrities are speaking out about it — kids are struggling.
This week, the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital published its National Poll on Children’s Health (PDF) that highlighted the severity of body image issues among children and teens.
Researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,653 parents of at least one child between 8 and 18 years old. Nearly two-thirds of parents said their child is self-conscious about some aspect of their appearance, with skin concerns (like acne), weight, and hair being the top issues reported.
Self-consciousness about appearance was more common among teens (73 percent of teen girls and 69 percent of teen boys) than children ages 8 to 12; although 57 percent of the younger girls and 49 percent of the younger boys also reported self-consciousness about their appearance.
“We were not exceptionally surprised by the results of our poll, but we found it concerning that so many parents report that their children are self-conscious about some aspect of their appearance and that many young children (8 to 12 years of age) were also reported to have these concerns,” says Susan Woolford, MD, MPH, a pediatrician at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and co-director of the poll.