‘It is easy to underestimate the misery it causes’: Britain’s poor body image to be investigated by government in new inquiry

“It’s all encompassing. I’m ashamed of my weight and think about it all the time. It stops me from doing things I want to do [and] holds me back from being 100 per cent me”. These are the words of an anonymous British man, 25, who took part in a recent government-commissioned survey about body image. Although his feelings on his body are strong, he is far from alone.

In fact the results of the survey found 61 per cent of adults and 66 per cent of children feel negatively about their body most of the time. And lockdown has only made things worse.

On Wednesday 23 September, the Women and Equalities Committee undertook the first evidence hearing for a new inquiry into poor body image in this country. The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, will look at what can be done - if anything - by leaders and lawmakers to change the way we feel about ourselves now, and in the future. 

To launch the inquiry, the committee - made up of 11 MPs from a range of political parties - published a report, titled “Changing the perfect picture: what can be done about poor body image?”, and the results of an informal survey of 7878 people, canvassed on social media platforms between 6 to 19 June 2020.

It has been long known that poor body image is a problem: there has been a 50 per cent increase in children accessing services for eating disorders since 2016/17; a study by the Mental Health Foundation found over a third of adults feel anxious or depressed about their body image; and 44 per cent want greater diversity of bodies in the media. NHS figures show that, although men have higher self-esteem than women, 57 per cent still feel pressured by social media to look a certain way and 23 per cent believe there is a “perfect male body” to aspire to.

This is particularly the case among LGBT adults where 40 per cent of people feel shame about their body compared to 18 per cent of heterosexual people. And in the disabled community where a survey, by Trailblazers, found 80 per cent of people said their body image had a direct impact on their mental wellbeing. 

But the new evidence, sourced by the committee, suggests it is a growing problem and not just for teenage girls and young women, but for BAME women, trans people, gay men, and disabled people who are all particularly affected by the issue. The scope of the new enquiry, which will report in early 2021, is to ask - so what should be done and by whom? What contributes to this and does the government have a part to play in addressing it? Either through stronger regulation of advertising, better education in schools, or other measures?

Nokes, who is chairing the project, said on Wednesday: “Poor body image is a well-known problem among teenage girls and young women – and that is clearly where it is most severe. But it impacts a much wider range of people as well, damaging mental and physical health and contributing to discrimination.”

Written evidence given to the committee suggests a range of possible causes of poor body image, including but not limited to: “colourism [discrimination affecting people of colour where lighter coloured skin is seen as more desirable], weight stigma, bullying and harassment, unrealistic/narrowly defined appearance ideals and the importance of image and beauty in society”. 

The impact of this, according to the report, ranges from: low self-esteem; to mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and BDD; disordered eating, and development of eating disorders; reluctance to visit the doctor or exercise; reluctance to progress academic and career aspirations; use of medication such as diet pills, laxatives and steroids.

The main results of the survey, released today, were that the majority of people in the UK feel negatively about their body, lockdown made people feel worse about their body, under 18s want to learn about body image in school, people don’t feel reflected in the images they see in advertising and the media, and images online have a big influence on young people.

The report states: “Diet culture, postpartum pressures, being bombarded with images of photoshopped, edited and sexualised women as well as the aging process and the lack of visual representation of older women are all things that women told us cause them to suffer with poor body image.”

Not a single transgender person who responded to the survey felt “very positive” about their body image and 23 per cent reported feeling “very negative” most of the time. One trans woman said “I have gone from hating my body due to dysphoria to hating my body due to pressures on women to conform.”

Men spoke of pressures to conform to masculine stereotypes such as being tall and muscular and reported suffering from high amounts of targeted advertisements encouraging them to gain muscle mass. “It’s not only women, it’s men too. It affects everything and it sucks,” said a boy in the 15 to 17 age bracket.

Under 18s reported that they, or a friend, had considered changing their body in the following way; exercise (87 per cent), dieting (83 per cent), muscle building protein (17 per cent), weight loss products (51 per cent), dental treatment (28 per cent), sunbeds (14 per cent), skin lightening or bleaching (7 per cent), cosmetic surgery (31 per cent).

This is the first report of the committee on this topic and it will continue to consider the evidence about action the government should take, producing a White Paper of recommendations for publishing next year. The role of the Women and Equalities committee is to scrutinise the work of the government on equality issues. It was established in 2015 following the general election.