Altered photos help teach about real bodies

Images of celebrities before and after being airbrushed, slimmed, and enhanced are helping parents talk about body image to their children.

They are featured in a guide available online that encourages parents to sit down with children as young as six and teach them to be confident about their bodies.

It uses before and after touched-up images of celebrities such as singer Britney Spears and actress Keira Knightley to help get the message across as well as offering tips on how to talk about the subject.

Ms Knightley’s bust was digitally enhanced in the publicity images for King Arthur in the US.

The booklet is backed by the British government, and the Irish eating disorders support group Bodywhys said it would welcome a similar initiative being undertaken here.

Bodywhys services co-ordinator Harriet Parsons said it was important that the positive body image message was filtered down by parents to young people.

The Dove Self-Esteem Fund brought out a booklet a number of years ago for mothers and daughters to work on and Bodywhys was involved in its production.

“It is important that parents understand the images and the messages and are able to speak about them to their children and give them a reality check,” said Ms Parsons.

“Parents need to be supported in trying to bring the moderate message — to be able to heard because, often, their voices are quieter than others on the issue.”

Last month the magazine, Vogue, banned models who were underweight and models who were under the age of 16.

Earlier this week a coroner in Britain blamed the magazine industry for the death of 14-year-old Fiona Geraghty, who had taken her own life last year after suffering from the eating disorder, bulimia.

“I would ask the magazine industry to stop picturing very thin girls because, at the end of the day, Fiona and others like her have suffered,” said coroner Michael Rose.

The girl’s mother, Dr Elspeth Geraghty, said her daughter had a fear of puberty and growing into a woman.

Ms Parsons said the promotion of touched-up unachievable “ideal” body images in the media also made it incredibly difficult for a person who was trying to recover from an eating disorder.

“While the media cannot be blamed as a cause of eating disorders, they have a role to play in contributing to the climate of general body dissatisfaction which we know impacts on young people’s own body image, self-esteem and sense of themselves,” she said.

ISPCC Childline manager Margie Roe said they received 1,470 internet and phone contacts from children last year who raised eating disorders and body image concerns.

“Anything that can help parents support their children around these issues is a good thing.”

Next week Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald is expected to launch Retail Ireland’s children’s wear guidelines on marketing and advertising clothes in a way that does not sexualise or unduly gender stereotype children.

* www.bodywhys.ie; www.childline.ie