Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

For Many Girls, Slimming Down Doesn't Help Self-Esteem

Weight loss doesn't necessarily lead to a boost in obese teenage girls' self-esteem, according to a new study.

"We found that obese black and white teenage girls who transitioned out of obesity continued to see themselves as fat, despite changes in their relative body mass," study author Sarah Mustillo, an associate professor of sociology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., said in a university news release.

"Obese white girls had lower self-esteem than their normal-weight peers and their self-esteem remained flat even as they transitioned out of obesity," added Mustillo, who studies obesity in childhood and adolescence.

Researchers noted that the study did not prove that girls' self-esteem remained low because they continued to see themselves as overweight, Mustillo said. There could be other explanations for the girls' continuing low self-esteem in adolescence.

The study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/04/03/for-many-girls-slimming-down-doesnt-help-self-esteem

Ugly YouTube Trend: Teens Ask World "Am I Ugly or Pretty?"

“People say I’m ugly, so tell me, am I?” is a daring question to ask online, but dozens of teenagers, mostly girls, are unhesitatingly putting out the question on YouTube. Some of these teens are even younger than the required age to use YouTube, according to site’s terms of service – a user must be older than 13 to upload a video. It’s a disturbing trend: some of the videos are garnering thousands, if not millions, of hits.

“I have a pretty basic question,” one girl begins, after revealing that her friends tell her she’s pretty but she’s not sure because she doesn’t have a boyfriend.

There, they face the wrath of YouTube commenters, some of who aren’t very shy or downright cruel about their opinions. “Just the fact that u did this video makes u ugly. But u were ugly already,” a viewer commented on one video.

The fact that some of the teens can be young as 11 years old signifies something is definitely amiss. Does YouTube need to monitor these videos more closely, or is it part of the need for greater parent vigilance when it comes to their children’s online activities? When every action is anonymous, commenters playing on the insecurities of young tweens is exactly the last thing the Internet needs.

Source: Time
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/23/an-ugly-trend-teens-turn-to-youtube-to-evaluate-their-looks/

Additional Media Coverage:
http://jezebel.com/5886241/teens-are-now-asking-youtube-commenters-if-theyre-ugly
http://socialtimes.com/youtube-trend-am-i-ugly_b90013
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2012/02/20/teens-post-am-i-ugly-videos-on-youtube/

Are College Freshman Overconfident?

Among academics who track the behavior of young adults and teens, there's a touchy debate: Should the word 'entitled' be used when talking about today's younger people? Are they overconfident in themselves? San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge says new research proves that's the case. Her study, published online and in the British journal Self and Identity, investigates why college-aged kids may be more self-centred and narcissistic than past generations.

Among other things, Ms Twenge and her colleagues found that a growing percentage of incoming college freshmen rated themselves as 'above average' in several categories, compared with college freshmen who were surveyed in the 1960s. When it came to social self-confidence, about half of freshmen questioned in 2009 said they were above average, compared to fewer than a third in 1966. Meanwhile, 60 percent in 2009 rated their intellectual self-confidence as above average, compared with 39 percent in 1966, the first year the survey was given.

In the study, the authors also argue that intellectual confidence may have been bolstered by grade inflation, noting that, in 1966, only 19 per cent of college students who were surveyed earned an 'A' or 'A-minus' average in high school, compared with 48 percent in 2009. Ms Twenge said: "Students might be more likely to think they're superior because they've been given better grades."

Many bosses and others in the workplace have long argued that recent college students often arrive with unreasonably high expectations for salary and an unwillingness to take criticism or to pay their dues.

Janelle Mills, who'll be a junior this fall at Stetson University in Florida, says she and her peers get tired of their elders 'ragging' on them about being entitled or lazy - or just labelling them in general. But she also thinks there's something to this study about over-confidence. "Kids are being encouraged to be the best that they can be. I think that this can create a superiority complex for those who begin to think that their best is better than everyone else's," she said. "Modesty and humility are no longer common and are becoming harder to find."

Source: Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004530/Are-college-freshman-overconfident-Study-shows-year-students-feel-average.html

Teen Girls Not Fooled by Airbrushed Fashion Photos

A cosmetic surgery website, Good Surgeon Guide, conducted a poll of 1,078 teenage girls to discover how they feel about airbrushing and other digital manipulation of photos in fashion magazines.

Contrary to popular assumption, the poll reveals that nearly 90 percent of girls are aware that the majority of celebrity images are airbrushed, and not an accurate representation of the celebrities' appearances.

For example, 71 percent respondents said that images of Britney Spears were regularly airbrushed, and 69 percent believed that photos of Kim Kardashian were modified and unrealistic. Others asked about in the poll included singer Fergie (48 percent of teens thought her photo was airbrushed); Jessica Simpson (49 percent); and Sarah Jessica Parker (44 percent).

Since nine out of 10 girls polled already know that most celebrity photographs are neither realistic nor achievable, they certainly don't expect to look like them. The findings are in line with earlier research suggesting that teen girls reject fashion models as realistic role models.

This latest poll is good news for parents who worry about the self-esteem and mental health of their teen daughters. It seems that teen girls are much more savvy than adults give them credit for.

Source: LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/culture/teen-girls-fashion-magazine-model-images-100812.html

Some Teens Turn to Botox

In 2009, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported 12,110 Botox or Dysport (another wrinkle-relaxing shot) procedures performed on patients 18 and under (in 2008, the number was 8,194) while the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found 11,889 cosmetic Botox/Dysport procedures were performed on patients age 13 to 19 (an increase of 2 percent from 2008).

“I wanted to be cute, to look cute, but I had these ugly lines in between my eyebrows and on my forehead,” says Stephanie Torres, 19, of New York. “So I asked if I could get Botox. My mom paid for it. It was like a little birthday present.”

Torres, who went under the needle at age 18, is one of many teens and early 20somethings who are turning to Botox in an effort to not only smooth existing furrows, but fend off the aging process itself.

While smoothing wrinkles is just one of many uses, recent reports of teens as young as 15 getting Botox have prompted organizations such as the Physician’s Coalition for Injectable Safety to come out against a “teen toxing trend.”

Source: MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37925133/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/

American Teen Girls Feel Pressure To Be Thin

Almost nine in 10 American teenage girls say they feel pressured by the fashion and media industries to be skinny and that an unrealistic, unattainable image of beauty has been created, a poll showed on Monday.

The online survey of 1,000 girls aged between 13 and 17 for the Girl Scouts of the USA found that three quarters said they would be more likely to buy clothes that they see on real-size models than on women who are skinny.

But three out of four girls said that fashion is "really important" to them.

"The fashion industry remains a powerful influence on girls and the way they view themselves and their bodies," said Kimberlee Salmond, senior researchers at the Girl Scout Research Institute.

"Teenage girls take cues about how they should look from models they see in fashion magazines and on TV and it is something that they struggle to reconcile with when they look at themselves in the mirror," she said.

More than 80 percent of teen girls said they would rather see natural photos of models rather than pictures that had been digitally altered or enhanced.

One in three girls said they have starved themselves or refused to eat in an effort to lose weight, while almost half said they knew someone their age who has forced themselves to throw up after eating. More than a third said they know someone who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE6104Q420100201

No big surprises here, just more of what we already know -- that our culture promotes certain images of what beautiful or even "normal" is -- and when it comes to female body image -- thin fashion models are the images young teenage girls see most often.  Parents can help offset the impact of cultural norms by placing an emphasis on helping their daughters develop a healthy self-image based upon more important character and spiritual aspects and by offering a lot of affirmation, warmth and encouragement (A.W.E.) 

For more information on teen self-image and parenting with AWE, click on the titles below to view these online articles:

Kids and Self-Esteem

Parenting with A.W.E.

19 Out of 20 Young Women 'Would Change Bodies'

Girls as young as seven would like to change something about their appearance and half of 16 to 21-year-olds would consider surgery to achieve their perfect body, a study has revealed.

The research, carried out by Girlguiding UK, shows that 95 per cent of 16 to 21-year-olds would change their bodies, with 33 per cent saying they wanted to be thinner and around a quarter of 16 to 21-year-olds said they would consider resorting to cosmetic surgery.

“We all compare ourselves to our peers, whoever they may be and for girls and young women, their peers are usually other young women,” said Dr Kerry O’Brien, a Psychologist at the University of Manchester.

“For them, as with others it is about finding their place in the world and wanting to compare favourably. Unfortunately, considering the approach of the media, that is often not the case.

“Many girls try to measure up to an image which is not a true reflection and can feel that they are coming up short,” he added.

Source: The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/19-out-of-20-young-women-would-change-bodies-1813551.html

Chatting Online Boosts Lonely Teens' Confidence

Hours spent chatting online by the glow of the computer screen doesn't make lonely teens more isolated and unhappy, new research suggests - in fact, it may boost their confidence and self-esteem.

The study flies in the face of previous research and popular notions that a lot of Internet time breeds emotional and social problems, and the results surprised even the researchers.

Maarten Selfhout-van Zalk, a researcher with the youth and society research group at Orebro University in Sweden, says that for teens with few friends and weak friendships, more time spent online is a good thing.

"We found if they chat more, with strangers specifically, they increase in their well-being over time," he says. "They gain positive feelings from that; they actually experience better self-esteem."

He said they expected Internet usage to have detrimental effects on lonely teens who were investing more time in online friendships than real ones. Instead, their research suggests the Internet acts as a social training ground, where such teens can meet people, create support networks and build their confidence and social skills for real-world interactions.

The study is published in the Journal of Adolescence.

Source: Canada.com
http://www.canada.com/health/Chatting+online+boosts+lonely+teens+confidence+study/1968364/story.html

Are Teens Mature Enough To Elect Cosmetic Surgery?

As more teenagers express interest in undergoing cosmetic surgery, researchers are asking critical questions about their motives, issues and whether young people are even equipped to make informed decisions regarding what are often permanent changes to their appearance.

Researchers who recently conducted a review of the literature on teens and cosmetic surgery (with a focus on breast augmentation and liposuction) found that teens are mental and physical works in progress. Dr. Anisha Abraham, M.D., coauthor of an study which appeared last Fall in Journal of Adolescent Health, says that teenagers' body images are continually developing. "Women can increase their breast size; they can gain weight. One recommendation is to certainly wait until a young woman is perhaps at least 21 before considering either liposuction or breast augmentation, simply because she is still going through pubertal changes."

Source: Modern Medicine
http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Are-teens-mature-enough-to-elect-cosmetic-surgery/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/583952?

Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery

To the rigors of teenage grooming — waxing, plucking, body training and skin care regimens that were once the province of adults — add cosmetic surgery, which is fast becoming a mainstream option among teenagers. But with this popularity, some experts are concerned that the underlying motivation for many of the young people seeking surgery — namely, self-esteem — is being disregarded in the drive to look “normal.”

The latest figures from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery show that the number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youths 18 or younger more than tripled over a 10-year period, to 205,119 in 2007 from 59,890 in 1997. This includes even more controversial procedures: liposuctions rose to 9,295 from 2,504, and breast augmentations increased nearly sixfold, to 7,882 from 1,326.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 girls in the United States ages 8 to 17 sponsored by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund — which has a partnership with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and is linked to Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, a program aimed at changing narrow cultural definitions of beauty — showed that 7 in 10 girls surveyed believed that when it came to issues including beauty and body image they did not “measure up.” Only 10 percent found themselves to be “pretty enough.”

“It’s clear there is an epidemic of low self-esteem among girls,” said Ann Kearney-Cooke, director of the Cincinnati Psychotherapy Institute, adviser to Dove’s study and author of the book “Change Your Mind, Change Your Body.”

“I work with a lot of teens on body image,” Dr. Kearney-Cooke said. “I have girls who say they want lipo when really what they need is to learn how to exercise and diet. If a girl thinks no waist, big breasts and chiseled features is the only definition of beautiful, I try and teach them to recognize the narrow view of what’s considered acceptable appearance in our culture, and how to challenge that view.”

Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/fashion/15skin.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1