Childline expects more contacts from children this summer about body image and eating disorders

Childline delivered 4,229 counselling sessions to young people from April 2023 to March 2024 about body image and eating disorders.¹

Support from Childline around these issues peaked in August² last year, a time when children are not in school and potentially spending more time outside or on social media.

The majority of counselling sessions about these problems were delivered to girls. Where gender was known:

• 88% of counselling sessions were with females
• 6% were with males
• 6% with young people who identified as trans or non-binary.

Common themes that came out of Childline counselling sessions on body image and eating disorders include:

• Comparing themselves to their friends, siblings and people on social media
• Guilt around eating particular ‘bad’ foods or eating at all
• Not knowing how to manage weight or fitness without going to extremes
• Desires to make cosmetic and surgical changes to their body
• Cancelling plans or avoiding social situations due to body image issues
• Worries about disordered eating patterns getting out of control.

Issues around summer months

There are number of factors that make the summer holiday a particularly tricky time for children and young people struggling with their body image or their relationship with food.

Children and young people tell Childline that the prospect of wearing clothing that shows their body more can make them feel under pressure to look a certain way, that they need to lose weight or change their appearance.

For others, this pressure is also reinforced as many will be spending more time online during the summer months to keep in touch with their friends and to stay entertained. As a result, many children may be exposed to more content online that might make them feel negatively about the way they look.

Additionally, children who struggle with eating disorders might find a change in their day-to-day routine and eating habits over the summer period difficult to cope with.

How to help a young person

If there is a young person in your life struggling with their body image or an eating disorder, Childline has some tips on how best to support them:

• Remind them that how they look is part of who they are and that their personality, achievements and the way they behave is important too.
• Images they may see on TV, in magazines, in social media or online are often altered and airbrushed so what they are seeing isn’t always real.
• Remind them that everyone is different and not to compare themselves to anyone else. Accepting themselves is all about them noticing things they are happy and unhappy about and realise that is what makes them unique.
• To help build their confidence encourage them to spend time focusing on a hobby they enjoy.
• Also, it may help if they write down every morning a few things they like about themselves.