Young, fit and feeling fat? (Janet Hostetter for The New York Times)At a time when much of the Western world is focusing on obesity problems, even teens who are at a healthy weight may develop a distorted body image.
That’s what German researchers found after surveying nearly 7,000 11- to 17-year-olds, asking them to describe their bodies. Options included far too thin, a bit too thin, just the right weight, a bit too fat and far too fat.
About 75 percent of the kids fell into the normal-weight category. However, half the normal-weight girls and a quarter of the normal-weight boys still described themselves as being too fat.
When those teens were given quality-of-life and self-esteem tests, normal-weight children who believed they were fat scored as poorly as children who really were obese. And normal-weight children who felt fat actually scored worse on family relationship questions than obese children. The findings were published in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, a German medical journal.
Although the data come from Germany, studies in the United States also suggest body image concerns are prevalent among American teens and adolescents. A 1999 study from the American Dietetic Association found that 55 percent of 7- to 12-year-old girls said they wanted to be thinner.
The data suggest that efforts to address unhealthy weight gain and obesity among young people have the the potential for “collateral” damage in normal-weight kids, who may develop self-esteem problems. An accompanying editorial noted that adolescents are exposed to considerable social pressure to be thin.
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From 1 to 25 of 162 Comments
Interesting study… just one more reason we should focus on health instead of weight.
— MPthis makes perfect sense to me. During a time when normal weight actresses (Hillary Duff comes to my mind first) become stick-thin in the name of vanity, it’s a wonder that any teenage girl or boy feels a normal weight! It has taken me twenty-two years to become comfortable in my skin!
— DevaThis is an interesting and difficult problem. I wonder about these questionnaire measures though… among some groups, and more so in some cultures, it isn’t acceptable to “brag” about your own attractiveness. It is hard to know whether this questionnaire just captured that these kids were unwilling to describe themselves as “the right weight” when asked- perhaps saying (effectively) “oh I’m so fat!” is the accepted response among their social groups, or whether this reflects some self-esteem or body image that actually affects their day-to-day lives in a meaningful way. It would be useful to know whether these kids are also changing their behavior, for example dieting in an unhealthy way, in some way that is important when they finish completing the survey and go home.
— AnneFROM TPP — A good question about the behavior changes, but that wasn’t measure. That said, we already know that normal-weight kids who answered this way (too fat) were more likely to score very low on self esteem scores. So it doesn’t seem to be a natural humility but genuine low self esteem that is driving this.
Interesting that the media was NOT targeted as a culprit here. I think it’s far more likely ‘collateral damage’ felt in normal weight teens comes from hypersexualized media and in particular the fashion industry. For example, America’s Next Top Model just congratulated itself on naming a ‘plus-sized’ winner, when in reality this girl was a completely normal weight. The ‘average’ size for models on this show is size 2.
— NicoleI wonder, if you asked them, “Are you ugly, unattractive, average looking, sort of pretty, or beautiful?” how many would rate themselves as ugly or unattractive? What if you asked them, “Are you a lot less intelligent than other kids, a little less intelligent, about average, a little more intelligent, or very intelligent?”
Adolescence, across many cultures, seems to be a time when self-image is ground down and self-esteem is trashed. Is it media advertising? Parental expectations? Over-ambitious school programs? Bullying?
I don’t know, but a lot of high school kids will consistently rate themselves as slower, dumber, uglier, fatter, and less popular than average. I think the study says a lot more about self-esteem and about self-image than it does about ‘collateral damage’ from obesity education.
There is, however, a need to ensure that obesity education is done in a healthy way. Instead of teaching, “Obsess about your caloric intake, worry about your dress size, and work out all the time,” you have to be sure you’re teaching, “Hey, make daily healthy choices and stay active.”
— RowanI’m not particularly surprised, but it is interesting to see it in a real study. Also, should we be concerned about all the people (boys especially) who thought they were too thin?
— AndyThe New Cook
I think it is more a ’self-doping’ rite of passage/practice among some female teens and adults.
The prevailing zeitgeist among females of all ages is to state that you are’ too fat.’ I consider myself a ‘thinking person’ and I too echo this mantra all the time.
This mantra of ‘I’m too fat’ is as common as saying ‘hello’ when you are a female and someone mentions weight or simply asks how you are!
Unfortunately, this ’self-doping’ practice becomes a reality and part of our collective belief system.
The mantra and the subsquent belief becomes ‘larger’ for lack of a better word, than ourselves and our self-esteem respectively.
We, as women within this culture are affected with this ‘low self-esteem’ virus. Essentially, we, as grrls and women, then create our own reality out of these faulty beliefs.
Adrienne Zurub
— Adrienne Zurubhttp://adriennezurub.typepad.com
I agree with Ann. Of course it depends on how the survey was carried out. Did the surveyors actually ask these girls or was it anonymous? Even if it was done discretely, using perhaps a form, a survey of this size was probably done in school. This means friends could possibly see what you wrote and influence your answers. Honestly, if you were writing this type of self evaluation with others would you give yourself a perfect score? Western society values humility and a proper survey needs to remove this variable when testing self-esteem. It sort of reminds me of those surveys I did in school were they would ask how many times you had sex or did cocaine. Of course teachers paid little attention and the whole thing became a joke.
— Gordon GekkoIt starts early. I remember starting to worry about my weight when I was about 9 or 10, and it never stopped. I was a tennis player in high school, played 3 hours a day, and was very fit. However, I always believed that I was fat and unattractive. It makes me sad to look back at pictures of myself from that time period — I looked amazing, but was sure that everyone thought I was a complete slob.
(Sigh). I just had a baby three months ago, and I am working on the baby weight! But, at least I have a healthier perspective now. I was to be fit and healthy — a nicely shaped body would be great, but my health is much more important.
— Mary AnneI find it ironic that all the related articles linked under your blog are about obesity and weight loss. As someone who spent most of her adolescence in a ballet studio, I’ve always found it unnerving that so much emphasis is placed on making children and teen thinner when thousands and thousands are suffering from eating disorders.
— anne2This sort of thing has been going on for decades. I am fifty now but I was made to feel fat and unattractive by a combination of a sick family, media stereotypes and social pressure. I always felt very badly about my body until my thirties, when I was able realize I was just fine. Now I am the parent of a fifteen year old girl who has gotten a very supportive, even sane, family life, and she is wretched all the time about her body because of media and social pressures. She readily admits these things but still cannot accept her normal weight is lovely and OK. Not even when we look at photos of me when was her age and see how skinny I was in fact - truly a mind blower. My family really did a number on me, but even though I am raising my daughter in a completely new way she sounds just like I did.
— plump and okI don’t see any way out of this. I hope that at least my daughter can come out from under this sooner and her twenties will be better than mine were. By the way, I am plump now, know it, and like it.
I wonder whether normal weight and naturally thin people feel ostracized by the very aggressive fat-is-beautiful attitude I see in this country. Every time an article about weight appears here, the board quickly fills with defensive comments that celebrate self-identified normal-weight and overweight individuals and disparage the minority who are thin. Not everyone who wears a size 2 has an eating disorder.
According to the CDC, 66 percent of adults are either overweight or obese, and 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are overweight, while only 7 to 8 percent suffer from anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia nervosa. I don’t cite these statistics to imply that eating disorders aren’t serious, but to introduce a bit of perspective.
Self-esteem is important, especially in adolescents, but not to the exclusion of reality and common sense.
I’m glad that Tara continues to share valuable information on a topic that affects all aspects of our health, and provides a forum for open discussion.
— perra75% of these kids rated as normal weight range. Is this using the same BMI chart as we use here, and is this group representative of German teens as a whole? It sounds high.
Is it possible that some of the normal-weight teens have parents who are drumming them with anti-obesity messages and monitoring their weight and food, being told that they are one cookie away from being clinically overweight by BMI?
If I were a medium-sized kid being told this kind of thing I’d have lousy family relationships too!
— diFROM TPP — Yes it’s using accepted BMI scales. But the numbers sound about right to me. The German numbers would indicate about 25% of kids were overweight or obese — in the U.S. it’s about 30% overweight or obese (about 15% of kids are overweight and about 15% are obese). Unfortunately, the study doesn’t get into the reasons why these kids feel this way. It would be interesting to know.
I’ve expected this… I certainly remember feeling fat as I went through puberty and developed thighs and hips and breasts…. looking at my high school pictures, I see a very slender girl. If I had come of age during a national paroxysm about obesity, I hate to think. I hope my own daughter is growing to value courage and kindness and curiosity,etc— WAY more than anything physical. Not easy in a nation whose obsession with perfect beauty had joined with our historical puritanism to shriek OBESITY from every headline!
— HJSPerra, that “aggressive fat-is-beautiful attitude” is pretty much an online construct. It’s not terribly socially pervasive offline.
The fat acceptance activists have a good online presence and a lot of online networking, but in the physical world there is still a really, really, really strong bias towards the exceptionally thin. Pick up a magazine or turn on the TV, and the normalized physical image is someone whose ribs you can see.
I remember being in high school at a fairly curvy size 14 (I’m six feet tall and very solidly built, so if I go much below that size, you start being able to see my bones under my skin), and I’d routinely get catcalls and snarky comments from strangers about how I needed to stop porking it up and eat a salad.
— RowanI found the term “normal” weight curious. What is normal weight today?
Is normal weight in Germany the same as normal weight for the U.S. / China / Switzerland / Ethiopia?
Healthy weight may have been a better term.
— DRJust how I felt during my high school days in the mid-late 1960’s, when I was 5′1″ and all of 110 pounds. Even though my female friends told me I looked fine, I felt heavy. I had curves the thinner in-crowd girls did not have. Now if I could only be 110 pounds again? I’m in the 130-40 pound range and seem to be looking reasonably good for a 57 year old breast cancer survivor.
— pldI agree with #4. The media should take at least some of the blame for the feelings of these kids. As a plus-size adult, I also feel somewhat self-conscience about my weight when ever I see a magazine or article in which an actress/model is described as “gaining weight,” yet looks healthy. I just have to remind myself that everyone is made differently, and that I am beautiful like every other women on this earth.
Might the fashion industry be held partially responsible too? It has always been “cool” to be fashion forward, yet the majority of the fashions do not look good on the average size woman (skinny pants, need I say more). And for plus-size women, the selection is even less. One of the stores described as “for plus-size women” has lost its view, and so the clothes bought at this store are not flattering to many plus-size women (cap sleeves, shirts made of 100% cotton that before washing came just to the top of the pants line, skinny leg pants, etc). Even the models used in their ads do no look plus-sized. A store that was comfortable for these women is now a disappointment because we must loose weight to look even remotely nice (and another self-esteem loss).
What I am saying is that teens are at an awkward age to begin with without the help of the constant pressure to be thin.
— DiPerra, that “aggressive fat-is-beautiful attitude” is pretty much an online construct. It’s not terribly socially pervasive offline.
The fat acceptance activists have a good online presence and a lot of online networking, but in the physical world there is still a really, really, really strong bias towards the exceptionally thin. Pick up a magazine or turn on the TV, and the normalized physical image is someone whose ribs you can see.
…
I believe my perspective and perception are influenced by my age. I’m in my 50s. When I was an adolescent, the media images available to me were very different than what I see today. When I turn on the TV or pick up a magazine, I see Oprah, America Ferrera, Sara Ramírez, Chandra Wilson, Emily Deschanel, Alimi Ballard, Katherine Heigl, Beyonce Knowles, Gwen Stefani, Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, and many other attractive actresses, models and singers whose ribs are nowhere in sight. I see plenty of magazines that do not use ultra-thin models. I see normal or slightly overweight people in quite a few advertisements, including one for the new Type II diabetes drug Januvia. And clothing stores like Torrid were absolutely non-existent a few years ago.
Granted, I’m not an adolescent now, and my interests were very different 40 years ago. I still remember the pain of being called “Moo-Cow” through all of middle school and most of high school (I was five inches taller than the average girl in my school, and legitimately overweightt). But I also remember my mother’s stories of being called “Thermometer Girl” in school because she was naturally thin.
— perraI think a lot of studies have also shown that involvement in sports and similar activities can make a big difference for girls and I, for one, totally buy it. I, sadly, remember feeling this way at this age & beyond, despite being quite slim and always in the “healthy” BMI range. As a young adult, getting involved in athletic endeavors (short distance running, swimming, tennis) and setting acheivable goals for myself has been the key to coming to terms with my body habitus. It’s harder to feel bad about your thighs, your arms or your overall size when you are proud of your hard work and your body’s ability to carry you where you want to go. I wish I had known this secret when I was a teenager. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and some years-long struggles with food.
— AlmaIn order to get myself back on-topic, I’d like to make two comments, and then sit back and read others’ comments.
1. When I was a teenager, I was teased not only because of my weight but also because I was taller than average, had huge feet, wore glasses, and dressed exclusively in clothes made by my mother, whose choices would have been better suited to a middle-aged woman. Adolescence is hell for anyone who is different. Most teens are insecure and tend to make themselves feel marginally better by tormenting anyone they perceive as lower in the pecking order than themselves. It’s unfair and unkind, but it’s nothing new.
2. It never fails to puzzle me why so many people refer to “the media” and “the marketplace” as autonomous creations with total control over defenseless consumers. What you see on TV, in magazines and movies, and on the racks in clothing stores is there because it sells, not because of some machiavellian plot to make us feel badly about ourselves or corrupt the nation’s children.
— perraExcellent points, perra, especially about the media.
FROM TPP — So easy to blame media only, when if you think about it, they are responding to consumer demand. If people wanted pictures and images of everyday, average people, magazines and movies would publish them. But that’s not what people want, unfortunately.
— LaSharonSorry all ye politically correct self-righteous self-protectionists. I find that the following is biologically inescapabaly true:
(1) Fat people are unattractive; and
(2) People who are too thin are unattractive.
Sorry if that sets murky standards, but, don’t give me any garbage about fat-is-beautiful. It isn’t. Except to people with fetishes….
— DThis was actually a surprise to people? I’m 20 years old, and cannot think of I of one normal-weight, or even skinny girl who doesn’t want to lose weight. It is extremely clear that skinny women are much more easily accepted into society compared to one’s who are over weight. I don’t think this should be the case, but it is. People naturally want to be accepted, and if part of that is to be skinny then most (young) women will obsess about being smaller than the next person. This article was no surprise, but it does show that our society is completely messed up and people should definitely focus on health rather than the one time they eat a piece of cake. Get over it.
— MaraI was going to stop posting, but I must ask if D (No. 23) is willing to define/clarify the following:
1. “biologically inescapably true”
2. “fat”
3. “too thin”
3. “unattractive”
Please, and thank you.
— perra