Most 14-year-old girls are unhappy with their weight

SCHOOLGIRLS as young as 12 are unhappy with their weight and some are skipping meals in an effort to be skinnier, a study has found.

Half of girls aged 12 to 13 – or in year 8 at school – said they wanted to be thinner.

And 58 per cent of girls in year ten, aged 14 or 15, said they wanted to lose weight, according to the study by the Schools Health Education Unit.

During the research, 31,354 boys and girls aged ten to 15 were questioned about their eating habits and body image.

Young girls revealed how they are controlling their eating in their quest to be thinner.

A quarter of year ten girls skipped breakfast on the morning they were questioned and 20 per cent had skipped lunch the day before.

Of those who had skipped breakfast, 36 per cent had avoided eating lunch on the previous day.

But if many of the girls keen to lose weight started dieting they could be putting their health at risk. The researchers said: ‘ An analysis of the characteristics of the year ten females shows that most of those wanting to lose weight are within the limits of “healthy” weight, and some are already underweight.’

The survey also found that while around 16 per cent of children thought that their health was down to luck, three-quarters of pupils in years 8 and 10 said they felt ‘in charge’ of their

‘Poor body

image’

health. Campaigners said the results were unsurprising considering young people’s exposure to airbrushed images of celebrities in magazines.

A spokesman for eating disorder charity Beat said: ‘One of the key features of current popular culture is a preoccupation with weight and shape and we know that poor body image and low self-esteem are key factors in the development of eating disorders. ‘The fascination with celebrities, their bodies, clothes and appearance has all increased the pressure that young people feel as they seek to establish their own identities – and typically at a time when their own bodies are growing and changing.

‘Celebrities are scrutinised for flaws and imperfections, leading young people to consider their own bodies in a critical light too. Into this mix is added airbrushing and digital manipulation of images, creating a hyper-real perfection. Young people compare themselves unfavourably to these images and some are more affected than others, usually because they are more vulnerable.’

The same survey found that many teenagers feel they are not getting enough sleep to concentrate at school.

Twenty-eight per cent of girls and 22 per cent of boys in year ten thought they needed more sleep.

Overall, 80 per cent of boys and 78 per cent of girls in year eight said they got the recommended eight hours or more of sleep a night, but this fell to 65 per cent for year ten boys and girls.