Body Dissatisfaction Starts Young - #ChangeThePicture

In Australia, more and more young people are experiencing body dissatisfaction.

Body dissatisfaction occurs when people have negative thoughts and feelings about their body image and it can be detrimental to a persons mental and physical wellbeing.  Children and adolescents who struggle with poor body image are more likely to continue experiencing this in adulthood and are at greater risk of developing more serious body image and eating issues in their life.

Young people are more vulnerable when it comes to body dissatisfaction due to over exposure to dieting practices and products, excessive and rigid exercise regimes, frequently expressed appearance concerns and/or strong biases about being a higher weight. Now more than ever, with increased isolation due to COVID, more exposure to social media than ever before, and increased levels of stress and anxiety, young people are even more at risk.

- 57% of contacts to the Butterfly Helpline in 2018-2019 were from young people under the age of 25

- One in two girls and one in five boys said that they had been afraid of gaining weight in the last four weeks

- One in four girls and one in 10 boys had consciously restricted their food intake to control their weight.

- Just under half of girls aged 15 to 19 reported being extremely or very concerned about body image.

- Eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness, with more deaths each year than the national road toll.

- Body dissatisfaction is one of the highest risk factors for the development of disordered eating and eating disorders.

Now is the time to support our kids mental health so they don't develop problems down the track. Without intervention, were heading for a dire future. GET INVOLVED and help us #ChangeThePicture TODAY!

DONATE - Help Butterfly #ChangeThePicture by donating to our Education and Prevention services. The more funding we have, the more schools, parents, and young people we can reach with free and low-cost sessions and resources across Australia. How their future looks, is in your hands. Please support Butterfly TODAY by making a DONATION.

FUNDRAISE - Hold a #ChangeThePicture fundraising event at home, at a venue, in a park, at your school or even your workplace to raise awareness and funds to support Butterflys important prevention and education services to help combat body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in young people.

- Expression of interest to fundraise

- Fundraising contact: elizabeth.herd@butterfly.org.au

SUPPORTER PAGE - A simple way to show your support and get involved in Butterflys #ChangeThePicture campaign is to create a JustGiving supporter page HERE to raise funds and awareness for Butterfly. You can set up a profile and include information about Butterfly and the campaign, why you have chosen to support us, photos, videos, event updates and keep a tally of how much you raise. Your supporter page can be easily shared among friends, family and work colleagues via social media for them to make donations to help reach your target.

SHOP MERCHANDISE - Purchase a gift or resources from our SHOP, with the proceeds going towards supporting people with eating disorders and body image concerns.

#CHANGETHEPICTURE PLEDGE - What would you say to your younger self? What kind words would have helped you during the times you felt unhappy with your body or the way that you looked? What do you wish you had known then that you know now about accepting your body? What do you wish an older person or friend had said to you?

Feel free to upload a picture and share a message to your younger self here , along with your pledge to encourage body acceptance in the younger people you know.

How your donations make a difference

- $5 could support 1 child/young person to receive positive body image education in their school.

- $10 could help us create inspiring and empowering free resources for school communities.

- $25 can help Butterfly provide school education programs promoting body confidence among young people.

- $40 could support the development of an e-newsletter for schools.

- $50 can help us provide low-cost seminars for parents on supporting a healthy body image in their children.

- $75 can assist us with developing and producing free online resources for schools and families to create healthy body image environments for young Australians.

- $90 can fund an educator/other professional working with young people to attend a professional workshop (prevention/early intervention).

- $150 could help us create new web and digital content for young people.

- $350 could fund an evidence-informed age-appropriate session in a primary school, promoting positive body image.

- $500 can fund an evidence-informed, age-appropriate session in a secondary school, promoting positive body image.

- $750 could provide a parent seminar to a school/sporting organisation.

- $1,500 could provide professional development training for a school, sporting or community organisation supporting young people.

- $2,000 could sponsor a 3hr Body Kind leadership workshop at a school, sporting or community organisation supporting young people.

- $5,000 could sponsor a whole of community program including professional training for those working with young people, a parent information seminar, and sessions for schools (years 5 to 12).