Welcome to Women’s Health
Do you love your body? There’s a loaded question for you. How many of us are truly content with what we see in the mirror? Sadly, too few. British women have the second lowest body confidence in the world, according to last year’s Women’s Health global Naked survey – behind Poland, if you were wondering – and only 9%* of us would describe our body confidence as high.
It’s a miserable state of affairs. And I can be one of these dissatisfied women. My relationship with my body is challenging at best, and dire at worst. There are days when what I see in the mirror makes me cry. My negative mindset is a lifelong affliction, the seeds of which were sown when I was just a child. And as the stats above prove, I’m not alone. I want to change this. For my benefit, yours and the children around us who are building their body confidence now, and need our help to ensure it’s cemented.
At Women’s Health, we celebrate women. We want you to be the best versions of your healthy selves. So now we’re taking it further – with this issue, we’re launching Project Body Love (see page 30). We’re committing to bringing you a summer of content dedicated to body confidence and self-esteem. Between now and October, you’ll learn how to be kind to yourself and realise your true value, how to identify damaging, body-confidence-zapping language and replace it with words that nourish your mind and encourage positive thoughts. Plus, you’ll find actionable tips to help you communicate with the young people in your life about their bodies and selves.
In a Hearst first, Project Body Love content will appear not only in Women’s Health, but also in many of our sister titles; Cosmopolitan, Red,
Good Housekeeping and Elle. These brilliant, gamechanging brands are equally as passionate about improving their readers’ lives, now and forever.
Emma Willis was my number one choice to launch this campaign. She’s a former model who used to have her body scrutinised daily, which left her with insecurities that she’s vowed not to pass on to her children. She’s one of the most beautiful and down-to-earth celebrities currently gracing our televisions, yet even she has episodes when negative thoughts creep in and blight her days. But she says that getting older – she celebrated her 43rd birthday the day before our shoot – and having three children has given her new-found respect for what her body can achieve. Find out on page 32 why, in her own words, she has never valued her body more. And on page 53, we share one writer’s struggle with low self-esteem, which saw her miss countless parties and opportunities growing up, and how that will inform her approach to raising her unborn child.
Project Body Love has already changed the way I speak about my body in front of my three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. My hope is that the campaign will help to end the damaging cycle of low body confidence being passed from generation to generation. If you’re one of the 91% who doesn’t have good body confidence, I hope Project Body Love guides you towards acceptance and, eventually, love for how amazing you really are.
Please let me know what you think of the issue. Until next month.
Claire Sanderson Editor-in-chief Follow me on Instagram @clairesanderson