Giving youth the gift of self-esteem is something we can all do

Iwas a skinny kid at school. The boys teased me for being too thin, so I used to wear two pairs of thick tights in an effort to hide my liquorice legs. Another source of mortification came at PE when we were forced to wear swimming caps in the school pool. I was convinced it made me look like a matchstick, so I’d often fake a sickie.

When I was around 18 years old I suddenly started to fill out. I didn’t like this either.when I looked in the mirror I saw a big bawface staring back at me, so I went on a kind of diet.

Of course these days I’d kill for the plump skin and slim legs of my teenage self. If I knew then what I know now, growing up would have been an altogether happier and less confusing time. But then one of the tragic universal truths about life is that youth is wasted on the young.

For S Club 7 singer Jo O’meara even the adulation of millions of fans did nothing to quieten the internal voice that told her she was not good enough. In this week’s big interview (pages 6&7), Jo tells us: “I never felt like I was up to the level of the other girls looks wise. I was heavier, my teeth were all wonky.”

Looking back from the vantage point of her 40s, Jo can now see she was suffering from low self-esteem.

This realisation often comes too late for us but we can try and pass the message onto the young people in our lives. I’ll use any opportunity to tell my teenage nieces they are beautiful and clever.

Of course they roll their eyes at their old auntie but I hope some of those words stick, and they get to appreciate just how amazing they really are.