Life drawing can help teenagers’ body image

Teenagers unhappy with their looks can be helped by taking part in life drawing classes, research suggests.

Drawing naked models with often less than perfect bodies appears to improve their own body image, psychologists from Anglia Ruskin University found, after recruiting 14 teenagers aged 16 to 18 who took part in three sessions over three weeks.

Prof Viren Swami said: “Our findings are important because they point at an effective means of promoting healthier body image in this age group.”

The research is reported in Empirical Studies of the Arts