[Music]

"I always had a lot of energy as a kid. I
played sport and ate whatever mum cooked
for me. Things changed in high school,
and I can remember starting to feel
self-conscious about how I looked.
I wore baggy clothing to hide my body,
and I tended to isolate myself so people
wouldn't pay too much attention to me.
Wherever I was, I would scan the people
around me and compare myself to them.
In my first year at uni, I struggled
being away from home. I was busy and
stressed, and I didn't really know how to
properly cook for myself. I made a
few friends and tried to be social,
but inside I didn't have any confidence
and hated the way I looked compared to
the other guys at my residential hall.
When I felt really down, the last thing I
felt like doing was exercising. All I
wanted to do was stay in my room, play on
my phone, and snack. Eventually, some
friends at my hall noticed that I'd been
a bit down and asked me to join their
frisbee team. I really didn't want to go,
but they eventually convinced me. Moving
my body has felt good. It's been a nice
reminder of what I used to be like as a
kid."

How often do you think about the way
your body looks? Throughout history,
we've been exposed to different ideas
about what the ideal or perfect body
looks like. Messages we receive from our
families, friends, and society in general
can all have an impact on how we view our
own bodies. Body image refers to how people
see, think, feel, and behave with respect to
their body. We can feel differently about
our bodies and our physical appearance at
different times. People can feel negatively
about how their body looks when they
compare themselves to unrealistic standards
of what an ideal body might look like.
Issues with body image affect people of
all genders and sexual orientations and
all cultural backgrounds. Importantly, body
dissatisfaction is common among
university students and is an issue that
many students report dealing with.

So why is it important to address body
image? Body dissatisfaction can lead to
shame, anxiety, depression, and low
self-esteem. It's also one of the biggest
risk factors for developing an eating
disorder, which are serious illnesses
that involve unhealthy behaviours like
restricting or binging on food, excessive
exercise, and vomiting. Feeling positively
about your body is, great but you don't
have to feel positively about your body
all the time to have healthy body image.
It's okay to feel neutral about your
body as well. It's about recognising
that all bodies are good bodies and that
health and beauty exists in bodies of all
shapes and sizes.

One way we can appreciate our bodies is
to flip our focus from what our bodies
look like to what our bodies can do.
Our bodies have remarkable abilities.
They heal us from colds and wounds,
allow us to move and stretch, enable
us to experience sensations like
touch and taste. They allow us to be
creative and pursue our passions
and also enable us to communicate with
others and build social connections.
Importantly, all bodies function in
similar and different ways, so we
can all focus on and appreciate
our body for what it's capable of doing,
rather than what it looks like.

Here are some tips to help foster a
positive or neutral body image.
Understand that society and the media
perpetuate unrealistic standards of
beauty about what the perfect body looks
like. Challenge these standards and help
promote a society that accepts and
celebrates all bodies. Limit your
exposure to stylised and unrealistic
images that make you feel inadequate
or dissatisfied with your body.
Follow social media accounts that depict
bodies of all shapes and sizes and make
you feel good about your body.
Notice and challenge unhelpful thoughts
and self-talk about your body or
appearance. You can use a thought record
to challenge these thoughts. Identify
some physical activities that you enjoy
and think about the nourishing food
choices that make you feel both
physically and mentally well.
Finally, you can try the body
functionality appreciation exercise
attached to this module. Functionality
appreciation is about appreciating,
respecting and honouring your body for
what it's capable of doing. Have a look
at the list of different areas of body
functionality in the attached exercise,
and write down what your body can do
in each of these areas and why it's
important to you. Dealing with body
dissatisfaction can be challenging if
you've been struggling with this or
it's having an impact on your eating
or other behaviours. It's really
important to talk to a GP or a
mental health professional. There
are also helpful resources available
online through the Butterfly
Foundation and the National Eating
Disorders Collaboration.

Thanks for watching.

[Music]