real people a healthy body, a healthy body image tg.pdfboys usually wonder how they can get bigger...

Teacher’s Guide

TM

Real People

A Healthy Body,A Healthy

Body ImageGrades 7-12

8755

Executive ProducerSusan Eikov Green

ProducerEllin Holohan

Video ProductionGravity Video

Rebecca G. Fisher

Teacher’s GuideEllin Holohan

© 2005 Sunburst Visual Media, a division of Global Video, LLC

ISBN 1-59520-657-4

Real People A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image

Credits

Introduction .............................................................................................. 3

Learning Objectives ................................................................................. 5

Program Summary ................................................................................... 6

Discussion Questions ............................................................................. 8

Suggested Activities ................................................................................ 11

Handouts (may be copied for class distribution) .......................................... 13

Suggested Reading ................................................................................. 16

Script ....................................................................................................... 21

program running time: approximately 23 minutes

We highly recommend that teachers preview

programs before showing them in the classroom.

Real People A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image

Table of Contents

Having a healthy body and healthy body image is an important aspect of identity

and impacts self-esteem. But as obesity rates rise, and anorexia and bulimia take

their toll at the opposite end of the spectrum, teens are struggling with what

some call a “toxic” food environment characterized by the plethora of fast food

outlets and advertisements egging them on to satisfy their every impulse.

Research documents a high increase in average caloric intake in recent years,

and one only need look around to notice that we are gaining weight. Rising obe-

sity rates among teens and children (tripled since 1980) augur a looming health

crisis as the effects of sedentary lifestyles and high-calorie diets merge. Sixteen

percent of teens are obese and at risk for the health-related consequences of

obesity such as Type II diabetes.

Ironically, the same media that make us sedentary exhort us to be thin, even

emaciated, especially women. Men are told to bulk up with muscle, and must

adapt to an increasingly unreal aesthetic.

More and more teens suffer from eating disorders that threaten life by not pro-

viding enough nutritious food. Between the two extremes are many teens who

struggle to keep from succumbing as society exhorts them via the media to eat

junk food, but to also remain pencil thin. Half of ads aimed at children are for

sweets or other fast foods that contribute to unhealthy eating habits and weight

gain.

While body image is not exclusively about weight and body shape, the culture

remains polarized at the two extremes of obesity and anorexia, and it has come

to dominate our national psyche. Yet teens also remain very concerned with

other aspects of appearance as they watch “complete makeovers” on television

transform average people into carbon copies of one another. How can teens

begin to accept themselves and develop the healthy eating habits and exercise

regimens that will help them maintain a realistic and nurturing body image, and

sense of who they are?

Real People A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image 3

Introduction

Real People AHealthy Body, A Healthy Body Image is designed to help educa-

tors empower teens as they address the issue of their body image. The program

stresses the importance of self-acceptance while tuning teens in to the ways in

which the media, friends, and sometimes even family can make it difficult. The

program encourages teens to think about their innate qualities so they can nurture

their identity, and develop a healthy body image instead of succumbing to dan-

gerous stereotypes of human beauty and worth.


After viewing the program and participating in the activities in this Guide, students

will be better able to:

• understand what is meant by the term “body image.”

• understand that a person's body image can become distorted.

• understand that cultural values can play a negative role in body-image

development.

• understand that friends and family impact our body image.

• understand that the key to a healthy body is healthy eating, sufficient

rest/sleep, and exercise; and the key to a healthy body image is self-

acceptance.


Learning Objectives

The program begins with teens talking about how important it is to look good, and

how few are satisfied with their bodies and their appearances. Jaimie Reindel,

Health Teacher, Stockton, CA, asks a group of teens to define “body image” and

several answers ensue: how you see yourself, how others see you, and how you feel

about how you see yourself. M. Woodruff Johnson, Executive Director of the

Kaiser-Permanent Watts Counseling and Learning Center in Los Angeles, tells

viewers that body image is closely related to self-image, and closely related to how

we value ourselves, to self-esteem. Angelika Robinson, Program Director of the

Center for Discovery and Adolescent Change, Whittier, CA, adds that body image

also involves how we feel about our other physical features, including the face, hair,

etc. One teen says that it is so important to look good in high school that girls apply

make-up in class, and worry about how others view their eating habits at lunch.

Boys usually wonder how they can get bigger muscles and lose unwanted fat.

The teens discuss pressure from family, sometimes unintended, but worrisome all

the same. If mom thinks she needs to lose weight, her teenage daughter begins to

wonder if she does too. One girl remembers how her father told her to suck in her

stomach while wearing a bathing suit. Another says her family frequently told her to

be more active and cut back on food. The experts explain how these kind of com-

ments can have a strong lifelong impact.

William and Jenna both describe how their peers made their lives miserable by

teasing them and making mean comments. Jenna developed an eating disorder.

Her story is elaborated later in the program.

The group discusses how teens feel about the images they're confronted with in

magazines and on TV. They may feel sad, or even guilty. One expert explains how

what the media presents as reality is not the truth. Steroids, drugs and cigarettes are

mentioned as unhealthy ways some teens try to affect their weight or body shape.

The negative health affects of each are described.

A few members of the group describe emotional eating and how it creates a vicious

cycle of weight gain, feeling bad, overeating and more weight gain. Ms. Robinson


Program Summary

comments that eating food releases serotonin which in turn calms the brain, so in fact

we do calm ourselves, and at some point even numb ourselves when food is used this

way.

Jenna, who became anorexic when she was a sophomore, tells her story. She realized

she was chubby but when others started calling her Miss Piggy she felt devastated

and began to diet. She eventually got to a point where her life revolved around sleep-

ing and counting calories. She was cold all the time and in pain, especially at night

when she would lie in her bed and cry. Dr. Johnson describes the serious physical

consequences of anorexia. Jenna takes the first step toward recovery when she con-

fides to her mother that she is having problems with food.

The group talks about the things they do to stay healthy: drink water instead of soda,

eat better, exercise, and accept themselves. The program ends with Dr. Johnson say-

ing that it's okay to want to look our best, but we also want to nurture ourselves to

stay healthy and strong, and “that's what creates a great body image.”


Questions marked with an asterisk (*) appear on screen in the DVD format.

Part 1: Body Image: What Is It?

(1) What does the term body image mean?

(2) How is our body image connected to our self-image?

(3) How do we know how others see us?

(4*) Why is body image so important in high school?

(5*) What is the difference between an unhealthy body image and a distorted bodyimage?

Part 2: Family Pressure

(6) How do family members affect our body image?

(7) How does a family’s lifestyle affect the body image of its members?

(8) How does a family’s culture affect the body image of its members?

(9*) Can families change their lifestyles? How?

(10*) Is body image a result of genetic endowment, environment, or both? Which ismore important? Why?

Part 3: Peer Pressure

(11) Why do some teens call other teens names like “doughboy” or “Miss Piggy”?

(12) Do you agree with the teen who said that everyone always looks for the negativethings to focus on in others? Why, or why not?


Discussion Questions

(13) Is there a lot of pressure in high school to belong to the right group? How canteens handle it?

(14*) Do friends have a strong influence over their own body image?

(15*) When it comes to body image, who has more influence: your friends or yourfamily?

Part 4: Media Pressure

(16) When it comes to body image, why does the media exert such a powerful influence?

(17) Is the media’s influence on teens negative or positive when it comes to bodyimage?

(18) How can teens resist this influence when it’s negative?

(19*) Whose influence is the most powerful: family, peers, or the media? Why?

(20*) When does the media exert a positive influence on teens about body image?

Part 5: Steroids and Other Supplements

(21) Is steroid use a problem for teens? Why?

(22) What are some of the physical effects of steroid use?

(23) What are some of the psychological effects of steroid use?

(24*) What are some long-term medical issues associated with steroid use?

(25*) Do you think using steroids to enhance sports performance is unethical? Why orwhy not?

Part 6: The Vicious Cycle

(26) Why is it so easy to get into a vicious cycle with overeating and weight gain?


(27) Why do people use food to cope with emotional issues?

(28) Do you think anorexia could be the outcome of the “vicious cycle” in reverse(starving to lose weight)?

(29*) How can teens deal with emotional issues without resorting to food/overeating?

(30*) How does the ubiquitous presence of fast food restaurants contribute to overeating?

Part 7: Jenna’s Story

(31) Why did Jenna decide to lose weight?

(32) Is there a connection between Jenna’s anorexia and her participation in track?

(33) Why do you think Jenna’s friends reacted so positively to her when she lostweight?

(34*) How is the issue of control a factor in anorexia?

(35*) What are the long-term risks of anorexia for teens?

Part 8: Recovery

(36) Why did Jenna finally share her secret with her mother?

(37) Why do you think no one noticed that Jenna was anorexic?

(38) How can friends and family support a teen in recovery?

(39*) Why is it important to not go to extremes when it comes to food and exercise?

(40*) Why is it hard to establish a balance in life when it comes to eating and exercise?How can teens deal with this issue?


(1) Ask students to bring in some of their favorite magazines (or provide maga-

zines yourself). Break the students into small groups and have each group

look at and discuss the images contained in the magazines. How do the

images make them feel? What do they say about our culture's values and the

human body? About beauty? After the students have had ten minutes to dis-

cuss the issues, tell them they will have ten more minutes for each group to

develop a slogan to fight the messages in the media. Ex: “Everyone's body is

unique!” or “Variety is the spice of life: be yourself!” After the time is up, ask

someone from each group to write the slogan on the chalkboard. Ask students

which ones they like best and why.

Using magic markers, magazines and any other art supplies available, have

the students make posters using the slogan they like. If allowed, hang the

posters on the walls outside the classroom.

(2) Interested students can research the food guidelines published by the federal

government (www.mypyramid.gov). Using the guidelines, each student can

create a week-long menu plan for a growing teen. Tell them to try and make

the menu as appealing as possible, but restrict themselves largely to what the

Food Pyramid guidelines recommend. Have the students present their menus

to the class (they can make copies, or simply write it on the chalkboard), each

student making a separate presentation. After each presentation, ask the class

to rate (by a show of hands) the menu as either “Very Realistic” (meaning a

teen could follow it without too much difficulty) “Somewhat Realistic,” or

“Unrealistic.” They should take into account whether the menu incorporates

enough variety and occasional treats to keep a teen satisfied. Discuss with the

class how much more (calories) they think an athlete in training daily needs to

eat than the average teen.

(3) Interested students can make presentations (oral or written) about the nutri-

tional needs of:

a) a fifteen-year-old 120 pound girl,

b) a fifteen-year-old 120 pound boy,

c) athletes of both sexes weighing 120 pounds.


Suggested Activities

After the presentations, discuss with the class why different people have dif-

ferent nutritional needs (age, weight, growing stage, activity level) and ask

them to guess how long it takes for a person to burn the calories in a can of

soda by walking. The formula is: your weight X distance = calories burned.

Pacing is not as important as distance. An average pace of about 4 miles an

hour will allow a 120 lb. person to burn 70 calories walking one mile. If a can

of soda has 140 calories the person needs to walk two miles (at 4 miles an

hour) to burn those calories.

(4) Interested students can write an essay describing how they see the culture's

emphasis on outer appearance over inner character and what this means for

our society.

(5) Interested students can write an essay about the difference between vanity and

a healthy desire to look your best. Think about how vanity interferes with

social functioning, and how looking your best enhances it.

(6) Ask students to keep a log of what they eat and drink for a week using small

notepads they can carry at all times. They should write down each item, and

when they ate or drank it. (Eg: one apple: 2 pm Tuesday) When the students

bring in their logs, ask them to talk about what they learned about their own

eating habits. Did anything surprise them? Do they think they have room for

improvement? What do they think they need to do to have a healthful diet.


Write a short story about the price of excessive vanity.

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Real People A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image © Sunburst Visual Media, a division of Global Video, LLC 13

Be the Author

Handout 1

Read each statement, then check the appropriate box to show whether you Agree or

Disagree with the statement.

AGREE DISAGREE

1. Most teens are overly concerned with how they look.

2. It's important to always look your best.

3. People judge you by how you look, including things you can't

really help or change.

4. Although it's expensive, plastic surgery is a good way to deal

with bodily features you don't like.

5. When you get to know someone, it affects how you see their

physical appearance.

6. Good health makes you more attractive.

7. The media makes it difficult to accept physical flaws.

8. Most people would rather be too thin than too fat.

9. You have to spend a lot of money to look good.

10. Personality is more important than appearance when picking

friends.

11. Beauty is defined by the culture…there are no absolute standards.

12. I would rather be happy than beautiful.


Agree or Disagree

Handout 2

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Answer the following and give yourself 2 points for “Always,” 1 point for “Sometimes,”and 0 points for “Never.” Then add up your score and see where you fit in.

Always Sometimes Never1. I eat four pieces of fruit every day. _______ _______ ______

2. I eat five servings of vegetables every day. _______ _______ ______

3. In general, I like the way I look. _______ _______ ______

4. I try to engage in good grooming habits daily (showering, brushing teeth, etc.). _______ _______ ______

5. I engage in physical exercise for one hour a day (or more). _______ _______ ______

6. I accept my facial features as unique and good. _______ _______ ______

7. I like my body. _______ _______ ______

8. I think I look as good as most other people. _______ _______ ______

9. I try to get the amount of sleep I need. _______ _______ ______

10. I enjoy getting dressed up for a party or special occasion. _______ _______ ______

11. I drink healthful drinks such as water and milk daily. _______ _______ ______

12. I limit fast food to two or three times a month. _______ _______ ______

Scoring: 16 and 24 points: you have an excellent body image and take care of your body.12 and 16 points: you have some work to do to make sure you take care of yourself anddevelop a healthy body image. Below 10 points: you need to talk to someone you trustabout what things you can do to improve your health and body image. Remember, ahealthy body image doesn't mean you think you look like a movie star. It means youaccept yourself, your physical appearance and your body, and you take care of yourself.


Self-Assessment

Handout 3

Reading for Educators and Parents

Bordo, Susan. The Male Body: A New Look at Men In Private and In Public. Farrar

Straus & Giroux, 2000. Documents the ambivalent attitudes that have long existed

in our culture’s imagination toward the male body.

Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminizing Western Culture, and the Body. University

of California Press, 1995. Explores the pressures brought on women by society’s

worship of the female figure.

Cohen, Phyllis and Stephanie Pierson. You Have to Say I’m Pretty, You’re My Mother:

How to Help Your Daughter Love Her Body and Herself. Simon & Schuster, 2003.

An encouraging and practical resource for mothers to help their daughters navigate

the difficult years of adolescence.

DiBattista, Rosemary Genova. Female Body Image: A Hot Issue. Enslow Publishers,

2002. How the media affect female body image, how women respond, and how

they can develop a positive body image.

Grogan, Sarah. Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women, and

Children. Routledge, 1999. Interviews men, women and children to compare the

effects of gender, sexuality, social class, age, and ethnicity on satisfaction with the

way we look.

Hersh, Sharon. Mom, I Feel Fat: Becoming Your Daughter’s Ally in Developing a

Healthy Body Image. Shaw, 2001. Advice to help parents understand their daugh-

ter, the body image issues—from self-esteem to eating disorders—she will face,

and themselves.

Kilbourne, Jean. Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive

Power of Advertising. Free Press, 1999. How advertising corrupts relationships,

turns people into objects, and helps to maintain, shape and re-shape gender stereo-

types.


Suggested Reading

Odes, Rebecca, et al. The Looks Book: A Whole New Approach to Beauty, Body Image,

and Style. Penguin USA, 2000. A fascinating exploration of the history, culture,

science, and business of beauty, and how looks affect our lives.

Pope, Harrison G., Jr., et al. The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body

Obsession. Free Press, 2000. In this look at how men really feel about their bodies,

the authors see a health crisis that is striking men of all ages.

Richardson, Brenda Lane, and Elane Rehr. 101 Ways to Help Your Daughter Love Her

Body. Perennial Currents, 2001. Advice for parents for helping their daughter com-

bat negative images about her body, develop confidence, treat her body with love

and respect, and make peace with her unique build.

Sivulka, Juliann. Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising.

Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1997. A history of advertising that describes its growth

in the U.S., how products and brands are produced and promoted, and how ad

agencies reflect and introduce cultural trends and issues.

Reading for Grades 7 to 12

Beckelman, Laurie. Body Blues. Crestwood House, 1995. A discussion of body image,

how it affects self-esteem, and how to overcome a negative body image.

Bell, Alison. “Disordered Eating: Are You One of the Silent Majority?” Teen Magazine,

February 1999, p.66. Many teenage girls have dangerous, way-out-of-whack eating

habits, and they don’t even know it.

Brown, Bobbi, and Annemarie Iverson. Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You

Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome. HarperResource, 2001. Basic

beauty tips for teens that can help them celebrate their unique, natural beauty,

inside and out.

Cooke, Kaz. Real Gorgeous: The Truth About Body and Beauty. W. W. Norton & Co.,

1996. Playfully challenges the sales pitches behind the beauty, fashion and diet

industries.


Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success

Guide. Simon & Schuster, 1998. A humorous and upfront guide to helping young

teens survive the tough issues and be all they can.

Daly, Melissa, et al. Feeling Freakish? How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin.

Harry N. Abrams, 2004. Written with candor and humor, a how-to teens will relish.

DeVilliers, Julia. Girlwise: How to Be Confident, Capable, Cool and In Control. Three

Rivers Press, 2002. Help for girls in becoming well-balanced young women.

Edwards, Johanna. The Next Big Thing. Berkley Trade, 2005. In this novel, a plus-size

heroine becomes a reality TV-show contestant and discovers she’s already beautiful

enough to be the next big thing.

Friel, John C., Ph.D., and Linda D. Friel, M.A. The 7 Best Things (Smart) Teens Do.

Health Communications, 2000. Seven tips to help young people ponder and learn

as they go through the difficult teenage years.

Gadeberg, Jeannette. Brave New Girls: Creative Ideas to Help Girls Be Confident,

Healthy and Happy. Fairview Press, 1997. A straight-talking book for girls to help

them empower themselves and deal with the problems of growing up.

Gerety, Ed. Combinations: Opening the Door to Student Leadership. Whaleback

Publishing,, 2003. From a top professional youth leadership trainer, positive stories,

strategies, action steps and leadership challenges that can empower teens to make

positive choices.

Graff. Cynthia Stamper, et al. Bodypride: An Action Plan for Teens: Seeking Self-Esteem

and Building Better Bodies. Griffin Publishing Co., 1997. A practical action plan

that helps teens go after what they want and feel better about what they have.

Graham, Stedman. Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success. Fireside, 2000. A

motivational guide to helping young people devise and achieve plans for realizing

their visions through better understanding of themselves, their strengths, and their

desires.


Gray, Heather, et al. Real Girl/Real World: Tools for Finding Your True Self. Seal Press,

1998. Casual and friendly advice on how to have a healthy self-concept.

Hinds, Maureen J. Focus of Body Issues: How You Feel About How You Look. Enslow

Publishers, 2002. Addresses the feelings young teens, both boys and girls, have about

the way they look, encourages them to achieve and maintain a healthy body image.

Hutchinson, Marcia Germane. 200 Ways to Love the Body You Have. Crossing Press,

1999. How recognizing the role your body plays in your personal life can help you

learn to love it.

Kirberger, Kimberly. No Body’s Perfect Journal. Scholastic, 2003. A journal for teens to

explore their feelings about their body, with commentary, questions, and other writ-

ing activities supplied by the author.

Kalb, Claudia, et al. “Unhealthy Habits.” Newsweek Magazine, May 8, 2000, p.66.

Explores the unhealthy habits of teenagers, including the number of teenage girls

who say they should be on a diet.

Normandi, Carol Emery, and Lauralee Roark. Over It: A Teen’s Guide to Getting Beyond

Obsessions With Food and Weight. Sagebrush, 2001. Offers girls and their parents a

map and a method for steering girls toward a healthy self-image and wholesome eat-

ing patterns.

Pappano, Laura. “Every Day I Would Eat Less and Less.” Good Housekeeping, August

2000. Details the rise and extent of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia among

teenage boys.

Smith, Erica. Anorexia Nervosa: When Food is the Enemy. Rosen Publishing Group,

1998. Help for teens in getting their life back.


Internet Resources

For Educators and Parents

For a fact sheet on body imagehttp://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5238.html

Information for parentshttp://parentingteens.about.com/cs/bodyimage/a/bodyimage5.htm

Article, “Modeling a Positive Body Image for Your Children”http://momstoday.com/resources/articles/positiveimage.htm

Website of the Media Education Foundation:http://www.mediaed.org

For helping teens become more critical users of media:http://www.bygirlsforgirls.org/2002/medialiteracy2.html

For Teenagers

Articles on body image:http://articles.studentcenter.org/index/146

Article on male body issues:http://www.clubdrugcounselor.com/body%20image%20male.htm

Information about eating disorders:http://www.mirror-mirror.org/teens.htm

Food Guide Pyramid from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculturewww.mypyramid.gov

Related Materials from Sunbuurst Visual Media

“Real People Suicide and Depression”: 26-minute program for grades 7-12

“Real People Teens, Family and Stress”: 28-minute program for grades 7-12

“Stress at Home: Recognize It, Reduce It” pamphlet for grades 7-12

“Suicide and Depression: Recognize the Warning Signs” pamphlet


GIRLIt’s like the dream to have the ultimate body that everyone wants.

BOYEveryone always talks about, oh, I need to go to the gym, I need to work out, Ihave to have those hard abs and have to have the nice arms.

BOYYou start looking bigger, girls start noticing you more. You start to get popular,sometimes.

JEANINEPeople are literally dying to have what other people have, and nobody’s eversatisfied.

Real People: A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image

JAMIE REINDELWe’re going to start off with just talking about body image. Who can tell mewhat body image is?

GIRLIt’s how you see yourself.

GIRLHow others see you.

JENNAI think body image is the way you look at yourself, how you view yourself, howyou compare yourself to other people and just how you feel about yourself, over-all.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONA healthy body image is, are we comfortable with how we look? And that doesnot just pertain to weight and to size and to shape, but do we like our hair? Dowe like our feet? Do we like our face?


Script

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONIt’s very closely related to self-image. Body image is what we see and what weperceive in our minds. Self-image is what we are. What we see ourselves as.And that’s really also related to self-esteem and how we value who we are andwhat we are.

ELIZABETHI think that body image is a very big deal in high school. Everybody’s alwaysworried about the way they look. And in the middle of class they’re applyingmake-up, and at lunch time they’ll order not that much.

JEANINEWhen a person has a bad body image, oftentimes it can be one thing that theycannot stand about themselves, or it can be many things, or it can be a couple ofthings that they just cannot stand. They wish that if they had the power, theywould just change it then and there, and then they’d be happy. But they probablywouldn’t be happy even if they changed it because nobody’s ever happy withwhat they have.

ANGELIKA ROBINSON There is an unhealthy body image, which means that I look fine, but I’m justreally unhappy with how I look and I really want to change everything about howI look. And then there’s a distorted body image, which is the very, very danger-ous kind of body image to have. And that’s what we see in eating disorderedfolks. A distorted body image means that what I see in my body is completelyout of line, completely out of whack with what the rest of the world sees. It’skind of like a funhouse mirror, as if I’m standing in front of a funhouse mirror.

Family Pressure

JAMIE REINDELHow do your parents’ body image affect how we feel about ourselves?

CHARLIEMy parents are always nagging me about food and weight. My mom used toweigh over 200 pounds and now she is 150. I hear her always saying she has tolose weight and it makes me feel I have to eat better.

RACHELMy mom always says, “I need to lose weight.” So I look at myself like, wellmaybe I do, too.


ELIZABETHWhen I was little my dad would make little comments to me that he wouldn’t eventhink about. Like, normally, somebody wouldn’t think about it. And it was justthings like when I was on the swim team, he would tell me to suck in my stomachbecause it would look better.

CASSIEI’d constantly hear it from my family. They’d remind me every day that I was over-weight and I needed to cut back on the things I was doing or get more active. And Iwas trying to because you already know you’re overweight and when someone else,in your family, goes and tells you that you’re overweight, it just drags you downmore.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONIn some households, parents that have the best interest at heart for their childrendon’t realize that sometimes they could say things that could be painful, hurtful,humiliating, and shaming. “Do you really need to eat that? Didn’t you already havea hamburger today?”

ANGELIKA ROBINSONWhen mom goes on diet or she twirls in front of her mirror and says, “oh, my buttlooks big. Oh, I’m getting flabby.” Daughter stands in the background and says, doI need to lose weight, too? When dad says to his daughter, “yeah, go ahead and eatthat plate of cookies. Why stop now?” That’s an incredibly powerful message thathis girl will never forget for the rest of her life.

Peer Pressure

JENNAI remember once I was told that I looked very similar to Miss Piggy when I was inmiddle school and that one really hit me. And you know, obviously, I’ve neverforgotten it.

WILLIAMThey would call me names like Pillsbury Dough Boy or just like, fatso, fatty. Imean, just like, “go eat another donut” or something. It made me feel real bad. Imean, I’d try to laugh it off or play it off at the time. But I mean, it would make mefeel real bad after a while.


RACHELI have a lot of friends who, they’ll talk to me, we’ll be having a regular conversationand they say, “Rachel, do I look fat in this?” or “do you see the flubber on my arms?Or the fat chunk right here?” And I’ll say, no, you look fine, you look absolutelyfine. And then I’ll pick it up and say it to them, I’ll ask them, oh, do I have flab?

JEANINEEverybody’s just ripping you down. Nobody ever wants to say anything positiveabout you like, you have a great personality or you’re so sweet or I love your smoothskin. It was never like that. It’s like they find the first thing that’s wrong with youand they just use that against you.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSON You go to school and someone says, “Hey, you look like a dork today,” or “look atyou, look how much you ate. Look, look” or “you’re fat.” It can be really demoral-izing to you. And it’s important to realize that those things are hitting you upside thehead with a brick because they’re so painful.

ANGELIKA ROBINSON One of those things that really happens in middle schools and in high schools, isthere is the pressure to belong to the right group, to be in the in-group. So guys andgirls will go to all sorts of lengths to get into the right group. And one of thosethings is to lose weight. And they tell themselves, okay if I just lose a few pounds,then I’ll get into the right group, and I’ll be able to date the right guy. And again,they use all sorts of measures to do that.

ELIZABETHI do know people who do use cigarettes and diet pills because they think that willkeep them thin.

ANGELIKA ROBINSON Kids use all sorts of things to try and keep their weight down, or just distract them-selves from eating. Cigarettes are definitely one of those things. And there are otherthings that kids use in order to control their weight…diet pills, cigarettes, metham-phetamines, and cocaine. And we’ve seen all of those things.

Media Pressure

JAMIE REINDELBy a show of hands, who here has felt guilty or depressed after they looked at a mag-azine? Wow.


BOYI think the media tells us what’s important in our body image. What size we shouldwear or what color our hair should be.

RACHELMy mom used to buy magazines nonstop. She’s got a big old stack of them in herroom. I used to look at them over and over. Oh, I really want to look like her, Ireally want to be that skinny, I want to be petite, I want to have straight, thick, silkyhair. And I didn’t get that, so I felt really sad.

WILLIAMIf I see a commercial or something with a guy who’s real built and stuff, you justkind of…I wonder how I could get my body to look like that? You know, how longdo I have to stay at the gym?

CASSIEI’ve felt depressed and guilty after watching TV shows with favorite charactersbecause I want that body, it’s a gorgeous body. And how can I look at that modeland not be like her? I feel sad, it’s like, what can I do to be that way?

JENNAYou don’t even know…so many magazines are air-brushed and they’re retouched tolook even thinner than they actually are. But you’d never know that by looking at itand you’d never know what’s behind them.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONThe media’s full of images in magazines, on TV commercials and billboards, inmovies…with images that are very thin, what you might think of as perfect. So itreally creates a lot of undue pressure to try to be like this image that is not perfectionat all. In fact, it is unhealthy.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONAnd when the media says, okay this is what you should be doing, and this is howmuch you should be weighing, and this is what is healthy for you, that may not bethe truth. And when we see models out there, and when we see actresses out there,and when we see actors out there that know this may not be healthy for you, and thisis not what the real world is.


Steroids and Other Supplements

WILLIAM I’ve heard of people take Creatine and protein powders mainly who play sports. Orsomeone who really just wants to get real big or whatever. Because they think that’swhat everyone wants to see.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONThe medical community has not approved any of those things. You’re messing withyour body’s household, without really knowing what you’re doing. It’s playingRussian roulette.

JAMIE REINDELWhat are some other ways that men can affect their body—as far as their body imageand weight? What could they do?

GIRLBy using steroids to boost their muscles.

BARCLAY I’ve known a few guys to use steroids over the years just to increase their image.They want their muscles to be as big as the next person. They want to be as strong asthe next person.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONWhat we see all the time is boys in high school saying, well, I have to have the abs.I have to have the lats, I have to have the big shoulders, I have to have the six packor I’m not going to get the girl. I’m going to get cut off the team, and I’m just notgoing to be this big guy on campus. So you see these guys working out hours a day.And when that’s not enough, they go for the steroids. And steroid use is rampantright now.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONSteroid use, along with diet pills and things like that, are both a body-image issueand as well as a performance issue. And what happens is the two really are pushedtogether. As a football player, I may want to be big and I want to be strong, but Ialso want to look good.

JAMIE REINDELWhat are some of the side effects of people using steroids?


BOYMood swings.

JAMIEMood swings. This is for both men and women. So what else have you guys heard?

CHRISWomen start to get facial hair and acne.

BOYAnd for men, you can get body acne, you also can get like liver damage, kidneydamage, or respiratory. All that can be damaged.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONSteroids are incredibly dangerous. They’re a very, very dangerous medication.The reality is that the long-term use of steroids can produce irreversible healthdamage…anything from osteoporosis, which is irreversible bone loss, to permanentinternal organ damage—stomach damage, kidney damage, liver damage.

You also experience outwardly physical changes such as increased hair growth,changes in facial appearances, acne. It also produces mood changes, increased irri-tability, anger, aggression, and rage. There is also an increased risk of sudden highblood pressure, and cardiac problems. We have also recognized that with steroids,there is a risk of fatality.

The Vicious Cycle

CASSIE Weight’s been an issue for me for a long time because I had an accident in aboutthird grade and the medication I needed to take to help with the accident sloweddown my metabolism and it does that to this day, so it’s a constant battle.

WILLIAMI was always an overweight kid. And I was always made fun of and stuff, and itreally bothered me. And I’d always eat a lot, and then if I got depressed or whatever,I’d eat even more. And then it just was a vicious cycle of depression and eating.

JENNABinging, you don’t even realize. It’s the weirdest feeling, you don’t even feel any-thing. When you’re eating, it’s like all your problems are gone…sort of.


GIRLIt’s cheaper, it’s faster, and it tastes better. I like broccoli, but I would rather have acheeseburger any day.

CASSIEI would feel bad about my weight. So I would go and I’d drown my feelings in foodbecause the taste would take my mind off of my thoughts. I would be tasting thefood, I wouldn’t be feeling a lot of what I was feeling about my weight. And then,I’d gain more weight and I’d feel bad and I’d have to go and drown that out withfood.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONObesity is a problem. More and more teens are becoming obese. In the last fewyears, it’s increased sometimes 50 percent a year. Fast food places are all around andthey’re designed to taste really good. Because they’re high in fat, they’re high incalories, they’re high in cholesterol. They’re high in salt and sugar. They’re okayonce in a while, but too much can affect your body.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONEating numbs you out. Eating releases serotonin in the brain. Serotonin calms thebrain down. So there is very much a physical effect that happens in the brain and wevery much numb ourselves out.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONAnd what happens is that the more you eat, the larger you become. The larger youbecome, the less you feel good about yourself. The less you feel good about your-self, the more pained your emotions, the more anxious. The more anxious, the moreyou eat. So it becomes a vicious cycle.

Jenna’s Story

JENNAMy name is Jenna, I’m 18 and I became anorexic when I was a sophomore in highschool.

When I was in fifth grade, I got chubby. I hit that awkward phase and that’s when Istarted noticing people making comments about me. And that’s when I started notic-ing other girls who looked skinnier. And I’d see magazines and start feeling badlyabout myself. It just kind of got worse and worse in middle school. And in highschool was when I finally did something about it.


You’re just kind of get sucked into it, until one day you wake up and I’m eating 800calories and 10 grams of fat every day and that was it. And I’m starving, but I haveno idea what to do. And then, whenever someone would tell me that I looked reallygood it would make me not want to eat again.

All that mattered was counting how many calories I’d eaten that day. That’s all I didat school was count them and then fall asleep, then count them, then fall asleep. Youcouldn’t think about anything else.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONConsciously what she told herself was, I could lose a few pounds and I’d be cutier,and I could run faster, and it would get me in with the in-crowd. So she did that.She dropped a few pounds and then she found herself on that slippery slope. And asshe dropped a few pounds, she slid down that anorexic slope and really lost controlof her eating.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONAnorexia is especially debilitating to teens. Teens are going through growth spurts.They are making that change between childhood and adulthood, so it’s extremelyimportant what you put in your body.

Some of the physical effects of anorexia are hair loss, dizziness, headaches, gettingcolder easily, bone density loss, heart problems, blood vessel problems, blood pres-sure problems, dehydration, the electrolytes being imbalanced.

Electrolytes are really what we need for our organs to remain in balance and toprocess and metabolize and to be healthy. We absolutely have to have electrolytes.And if they’re out of balance or we lose them, it can cause death. It can cause ourorgans to break down. So there are a lot of things that are really life-threateningabout anorexia.

JENNAI was really into my running. And so I’d think, if I eat this I’m going to get fatter andthen I’m going to get slower and then I’m not going to be varsity anymore. and thenyou’ll lose all this stuff just because you ate this one thing. So that was kind of whatkept me going. And it was true that as I lost more weight, I got faster in my running.So I fed off of that, too.


I was constantly in pain when I was anorexic, even when I was really skinny. I wastired all the time, I was freezing, even if it was 80 degrees outside. It didn’t matter, Iwas always cold. I was tired and exhausted and my grades fell really badly.

I couldn’t sleep at night, so I’d just lay there at night. My stomach would be raw, it’dbe grumbling and moaning at me and I just couldn’t do anything, I’d just lay there.

Your life is just miserable and you literally don’t care about anything. There’s pointswhere, if I had died I wouldn’t have cared because at least I would have died skinny.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONWhat happens on the surface is they just start a diet and they think if I just lost a fewpounds. But what happens underneath is, oh God, I am so out of control. My life ishorrible. My life feels so miserable. I can’t stand this anymore, but I can controlwhat I eat. I can control that. So I’m not going to eat anything. That, I’m good at.That, I’m good at.

Recovery

JENNA’S MOTHERI said, “Jenna, you’ve just got to tell me, I know something’s wrong. What is it? Youhave to, tell me.” And the way that she verbalized it...she said, I’m having problemswith food.

JENNAIt was like someone else was talking for me, to tell me what to say. Because I toldher and then I felt better. But I had been wanting to tell her for months.

JENNA’S MOTHERJenna had something inside her that said, this is enough, I don’t like this, I don’t feelgood. And I think that’s how she was finally able to come out and say something tome.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONTo recover from an eating disorder is extremely difficult. But it is an incredibleaccomplishment. And the strength and determination that kids show as they enterrecovery and as they continue the journey throughout recovery and commit to a life-time of recovery, is absolutely amazing.


A Healthy Body, A Healthy Body Image

JAMIE REINDELSo what do you guys do to stay healthy?

CHARLIEI don’t drink any soda. I gave up soda because it’s really bad for you. I work out.Since I’m an athlete, I work out about an hour and a half to two hours every day.And I mostly like granola bars to snack on instead of potato chips or candy, or some-thing really high in sugar.

JEANINETo have a healthy body image means to generally accept yourself. Because, honestly,what other option do you have? It’s yours. You’re going to have it forever. You mightas well just accept it and keep it healthy.

JENNAI think you just have to realize that people are built differently. But as soon as youaccept that about yourself, you’ll feel a lot better and you’ll find people that love youfor who you are and there’s just so much more to it.

I go out with my friends and we have fun, but I’ll probably enjoy it a little more justbecause for such a long time I didn’t. Or I’ll just look up at the sky sometimes—andthat sounds lame, but I will—I’ll just be like, I’m really glad to be alive. Because alot of girls die from this. And so I realize that, and realize how lucky I am to still behere.

WILLIAMThe turning point was I was tired of being made fun of. And so I started a realhealthy diet—counting my calories and my fat grams and just making sure I main-tained healthy nutrition. I started exercising more. I started doing the treadmill a lotmore. And then, I started weight training.

CASSIEInstead of going to the fridge, or if I really feel like I must eat something, I’ll grabfruit instead. I feel much happier and it’s less stressful to my life. I mean, I’venoticed pounds falling off of my body. It feels a lot better than going to the fridgeand emotionally eating.


WILLIAMEating more nutritional, your carbs last longer throughout your body and you can usethat throughout the day and it makes you feel better. Because I know if I eat a lot ofjunk foods and stuff, I’ll feel fine for a while, but afterwards your whole body justfeels kind of down.

ANGELIKA ROBINSONWe have to focus on healthy eating, and intuitive eating, and realistic eating is what itcomes down to. And what really works? The reality is that if we eat in moderateportions and we’re mindful about what we eat, and we exercise appropriately, thenwe’re going to get to where we need to be.

M. WOODRUFF JOHNSONIt’s really okay to want to look good. In fact, you want to look your best, you want todo your best, you want to go as far as you can with all you’ve got. And when youlove yourself—just like anything else that you love and value—you want to protectyourself, you want to nurture yourself, you want to support yourself and give your-self what you need to be healthy, to be strong. And that is what creates a great bodyimage.

THE END
