NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a study of adolescents who were admitted to a psychiatric hospital, those with body image concerns were more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and other mental health problems than those who didn't have such concerns.



Also, patients preoccupied with body shape or weight were significantly more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociation and sexual preoccupation.

Overall, body image disorders affected one third of all of the teens evaluated, and were severe enough to cause significant distress or interfere with normal functioning, Dr. Jennifer Dyl of Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island and colleagues report.

"These relatively common, yet distressing and impairing body image preoccupations deserve further study in adolescents," Dyl and her team report in the journal of Child Psychiatry and Human Development.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a medically recognized condition in which a person suffers from a disabling preoccupation with an imagined or minor flaw in his or her appearance. The condition usually first appears in early adolescence, a time when the body is undergoing major changes in appearance, Dyl and her colleagues note.

To investigate the prevalence of BDD, eating disorders and other body image concerns and their association with other mental disorders, the researchers evaluated 208 boys and girls between 12 and 17 years old who were admitted to a psychiatric hospital for inpatient care.

Fourteen met the medical criteria for BDD, 8 had eating disorders, and 46 had shape or weight concerns that were clinically significant but did not meet criteria for BDD or eating disorders.

Just 1 of the 14 study participants with BDD had this diagnosis noted in their medical record, Dyl and her colleagues found. Less than half of the teens with shape and weight concerns were actually overweight.

"Our results underscore the importance of screening for and diagnosing BDD and other body image concerns in adolescents," Dyl and her team conclude.

too bad i learned that thru experience

thanks for the info hun, i have a neice that is pretty chubby for a 9 year old - in fact i was the exact same size when i was her age...and my family is known for always commenting on shape size and weight whenever we haven't seen them for a while...so she's getting those comments now everytime she visits from the states...and i see it troubling her...she used to be so chatty and now whenever a comment is made, Mayasia gets really quiet...i just wish she was closer so i can help her thru it...i see what i went thru repeated in her...

it's a hurtful thing to live thru, but once you're out, you feel like a million bucks...
...kinda like how i feel right now

well duh..

SammiJ said:

i had some serious issues with it as a high school student ...landed my but in the hospital ...

i grew out of it and i think as a parent i am doing better by my kids

weepingwall said:

ungreatful thing...

SammiJ said:

i did not mean no form of disrespect..i am speaking from the point of view of a teenager who's self-esteem was not good..i recover thought..

SammiJ said:

That's awful! I'm glad YOU atleast recognize it and don't make her feel bad. Poor girl!

luv4all7 said:

I have this. It's not just women that deal with it.

I would have never guessed in a million years.

kidelrich said:

no it's not just women

No shit. I've only spent my life with this.

I think it effects most everyone at some point in their life..
I am small breasted and that has effected my self esteem since I was in my teens. I try not to let it bother me but somedays it does effect the way I see myself.

shanti0608 said:

i weighed 105 lbs when i was in 12th grade and for some odd reason i thought i looked like a fat cow and i felt like one too

I still feel all that.

Sweeny79 said:

i just saw your new pic on spookys thread ... you look amazing and are so beautiful

Mach said:

Thanks Mach... I feel 1000 years old,and far from attractive but thank you.

Sweeny79 said:

interesting you said that ...i was just sitting here in the now quiet house ...thinking how old and tired i feel

and fat

Mach said:

It's an epidemic!


Don't worry Mach...you are a true beauty.

Sweeny79 said:

TY and back at ya babe

Mach said:

Sweeny79 said:

You both are beautiful women!!
We are just surrounded by all of the magazines and TV with all of the sickly skinny women or the big boobed Playboy models.

shanti0608 said:

shanti0608 said:

I have 2 lbs of home made super yummy fudge in my fridge


ewww all those girlys in those mags are younger then our daughter... too freeky to look at all airbrushed and stuff

Mach said:

oooooh man...BRINNGGGG ON THE FUDGE!!!

shanti0608 said:

Thank you

twister6 said:

Well- you never hear a guy say "wow- check out the small breasts on that girl"..

Oh well- these are what god gave me- not gonna get implants so I will have to live with them the way they are..
[Edited 6/18/06 17:03pm]

Sweeny79 said:

Your welcome- add Sammi to the list of beautiful ladies too..

Mach needs to pass around the fudge!!

shanti0608 said:

thanks

but yeah, on with the fudgeness

Mach said:

that's what freaks me out the most about those kind of magazines. those models are essentially women with the body of a twelve year old girl and the breasts of a 24 year old woman. It's just not realistic or right for that to be held as a feminine ideal. women have bellies, thighs, and ass in addition to breasts and breasts have a natural sag to them , even the small ones. I find it so strange that men seem to be mesmerized by two helium balloons that are shoved into a very small chest.



****this is not to say that all implants or women with implants look this way. There are some women with very realistic looking implants as well as some women who end up getting them for reasons other than wanting to look like a playboy model. But these women aren't in the magazines or the music videos.

Unfortunately i don't see it changing. I really don't. And it angerz me when kidz are made to feel so conscious about their weight- i'm talking even pre-pubescent. But commercialism just getz bigger and bigger...it becomez glossier and glossier and women portrayed are often not what is considered the norm anyway. And kidz and teenz who are indeed chubby or overweight are not gonna be seeing it as a health issue...and that'z cause the people around them can be very cruel and make distasteful commentz that will only make em feel inadequate rather than empowered, you know to go out there and not care about anything else but getting on track with fitness, and just knowing that puppy-fat can also be a factor too. Unfortunately the playground is not alwayz a friendly place and this is when thingz get worse. It'z not just a matter of educating youngsterz about the effectz of body image in the media- cause it doesn't change anything....but parentz too need to learn to instill the idea of not judging a person on soley their appearance. Cause everything really just startz at home when you're a bubba. And if an influential figure and/or parent sharez their judgemental wayz with or around their kid, chances are, they pick up on it, and it becomez big at school...causing schoolyard bullying and added peer pressure. It's cyclical really. Unless you follow Marxism which would suggest it was purely the media that pullz you in, and we follow it like a god. But where does it start...and where does it stop? And surely the human mind has a hold of these thingz...they just gotta know where to draw the line and pass it down to their kids! Then maybe, ideally body image will become less of a concern and health and keeping kids active, happy and confident with mannerz to boot will be the preffered option.