Tweens Convene for Learning, Support on Body Image

Oct. 13, 2009 -- When 12-year-old Chloe Harris sees a large-screen image of a stick-thin model in a new ad campaign, the seventh-grader from Alexandria, Va., says the picture makes her "feel sick" because the model looks so "unnormal."Her reaction is on target, says body-image expert Jess Weiner, who speaks about the eating disorders that began for her at age 11.

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"Every single person here wonders whether they've got the right body or the right look," says Weiner, who writes a body-image column for Seventeen magazine. She spoke to more than 200 tween girls, ages 9-14, gathered for the first National Tween Girl Summit here over the weekend.

Ultra-thin models and celebrities are getting some backlash these days, but body image is still a major preoccupation for girls. Some marketers have started to respond, such as Dove, a summit sponsor, which created the Campaign for Real Beauty and the Dove Self-Esteem Fund.

Researchers are particularly interested in the link between self-esteem, body image and eating disorders, and new studies are trying to better explain the connection.

What others think

A study was published this summer in the journal Child Development by researchers at the University of Oregon and University of California-Los Angeles who conducted brain scans on 12 young people ages 11 to 13 and on an equal number of young adults ages 22 to 30. During the imaging, the participants responded to 40 questions about their popularity and their academics. They were asked about whether phrases such as "I am popular" described them, and whether others would agree. Compared with the young adults, the study suggests that a tween's self-image is largely based on how she believes others see her.

"If you ask them what they think of themselves, they can't separate that from what other people think of them," says Jennifer Pfeifer, an assistant professor of psychology in Oregon. "Whenever you ask them about themselves, they immediately engage in thinking about what others think of them."