Anxious about body image?
MANY over-55s feel anxiety about the way their bodies
look, reveals a report published today by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF).
Its survey, marking the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, found that 20 per cent have felt anxious because of their body image, while 28 per cent said they had dressed in a way that hides their body or part of it.
Body image has led to feelings of depression for 23 per cent, while 25 per cent say their selfesteem has been affected.
Jolie Goodman, programmes manager for later life at the MHF, says: ‘In a culture where
the imagery that surrounds us portrays young, slim, airbrushed images, it can be hard to be visible in later life. Millions of adults are struggling with concerns about body image.’
Many people said that social media causes them to worry about their body image.
The MHF believes that this social harm has been allowed to develop largely unchecked.
In its report, Body Image: How We Think And Feel About Our Bodies, it calls for action by the UK Government to make preventing the promotion of idealised body images a specific part of its forthcoming regulation strategy.