By DAVE LANDRY

With a never-ending onslaught of media and technology available at our children’s fingertips these days, the potential problems of possible body image issues has become more prevalent than ever before.

Plus Size Versus Normal

Think of it this way, thankfully we’ve been seeing some more normal looking examples of people in today’s advertising, but they’re being referred to as “plus-sized” models. In today’s more realistic and everyday world, these people would be seen as more of the “norm” and not a larger version of what would be considered as average.

Not to discount problems with obesity and being overweight in our current fast-food environment, but often our youngsters are swept up into a place where they have a twisted view of what is normal. For example, even some celebrities are complaining about having pounds and body flaws “photoshopped” out of their pictures that go on to appear to the public eye, sometimes without their knowledge or consent.

Turning A Blind Eye

The problem with youngsters who could be suffering from body image issues is they don’t see a true portrait of themselves when they look into the mirror. This can be especially exasperating with teens who are already experiencing changes due to simply dealing with adolescence. While we see our bright, young, normal-sized children through our loving parental eyes, they may see a reflection of themselves that appears completely false, being overweight, perceive themselves as being ugly, etc.

According to statistics, over 80% of ten-year-olds are frightened of being fat. And it’s not just girls who are suffering from these delusions. On the opposite side of the scale, a quarter of all young boys believe they’re scrawny or underweight. We need to look at both sides of this unrealistic equation when it comes to our children and see if they might be suffering or stressed due to body images.

For more information on detecting these types of issues with kids, please take a look the following infographic by Teensafe