Childline is anticipating a summer spike in contacts from children struggling with body image issues and eating disorders.
New data from the NSPCC service reveals it delivered 4,229 counselling sessions to young people from April 2023 to March 2024 about these problems.
Support from Childline about body image issues and eating disorders peaked in August last year, a time when children are not in school and potentially spending more time outside or on social media.
The report also points to the overwhelming majority of counselling sessions about these problems being delivered to girls – where gender was known 88% of counselling sessions were with females, 6% with males and 6% with young people who identified as trans or non-binary.
The findings from Childline are reinforced by NHS data from a survey of children in 2023, which revealed that 27.9% of 11- to 16-year-olds thought they were fat when others said they were thin. This has increased from 22.8% in 2017.
Common themes that came out of Childline counselling sessions on body image and eating disorders include:
Comparing themselves to their friends, siblings and people on social media,
Guilt around eating particular ‘bad’ foods or eating at all,
Not knowing how to manage weight or fitness without going to extremes,
Desires to make cosmetic and surgical changes to their body,
Cancelling plans or avoiding social situations due to body image issues,
Worries about disordered eating patterns getting out of control.
Childline understands there are number of factors that make the summer holiday a particularly tricky time for children and young people struggling with their body image or their relationship with food.
The NSPCC service is hearing from children who are telling them that the prospect of wearing clothing – which shows their body more – can make them feel under pressure to look a certain way, that they need to lose weight or change their appearance.
For others, this pressure is also reinforced as many will be spending more time online during the summer months to keep in touch with their friends and to stay entertained. As a result, many children may be exposed to more content online that might make them feel negatively about the way they look.
Additionally, children who struggle with eating disorders might find a change in their day-to-day routine and eating habits over the summer period difficult to cope with.
Kieran Lyons, Service Head of Childline at the charity’s base in London said: “Seeing a spike in contacts about body image issues and eating disorders in August shows us that the summer holidays can be a particularly tough time for some young people.
“This could be a result of them seeing more content online or on the television and being in situations that makes them more anxious about their body image.
“Regardless of their situation or worries, Childline wants to remind all young people that our trained counsellors are here for them and that no child should feel like they are alone with any concerns they have.”
A girl aged 17 who spoke to Childline said: “I constantly list things I hate about my looks to myself. I look at other girls in my school and social media and I envy them greatly. No one’s ever called me pretty other than my girlfriends and my mum. I’ve heard dudes mock me in class which makes me feel like I really am ugly and it’s not just in my head. Sometimes, I worry I’ll never be with someone romantically, and I’ll just be alone forever.”
The NSPCC, as well as supporting young people through Childline, is calling on Ofcom to strengthen its approach to the Online Safety Act to ensure companies better protect children from harmful content linked to eating disorders and body image.
All children can speak to a trained counsellor over the phone on 0800 1111, via email or on a 121 chat on the Childline website.
Children can also visit the website to find more advice on any concerns or questions they may have on body image and eating disorders. They can also use the service’s moderated message boards to get support from their peers.
