Body Image: What is it and how does it affect your diet?

First off, body image is our personal view of our own body. Its how we view our own body. For example, "i would be happier if I had coke bottle body" or "I'm fat" or "I'm hot stuff." Body image is our interpretation of our body, including our mental, emotional, historical, and physical components

Body image affects the way we eat and our future health greatly. If a teen thinks that he/she are too fat or needs to look a certain way, they can drastically change their diet. If teens stop eating certain foods to drop weight or cut out certain nutrients, they can be depriving their body of components needed to build a healthy body for later in life. Stopping eating certain foods can cut out calcium or other nutrients and could cause osteoporosis later in life. Your body image can determine your current diet and your future health.

When looking at ones health, most people look at the number on the scale. This number does not always tell you if your actually healthy. In fact, there are many "large" men/women who are considered over weight, but in reality are fit. These people actually exercise regularly, eat healthy, and enjoy good health (which is shown by their optimal blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels). If one falls victim to seeing themselves as "obese" or "fat," they might cut their eating and can severely affect their ability to do daily tasks. When one severely changes their food intake to where they are eating below the recommended daily intake of calories (2,200-2,700 calories per day) they are cutting out their supply of energy. Those who do this can fall into a eating disorder, like anorexia. Those who are anorexic have a tendency to be lacking so much of their needed energy, they have a hard time doing regular tasks, such as walking for more than 2 blocks. On top of this, a majority of those who have eating disorders or bad eating patterns when they are young, are more likely to continue their bad habits later in life and put themselves at risk of disease.

An example of 2 types of body image from UCLA:

-Eric is 5’6” and 142 lb. He runs around the track and climbs the Drake stadium stairs for about 30-45 minutes 3 times per week, and he lifts weights for about an hour 2 times per week. He eats a high fiber diet (with plenty of fruits, veggies, and whole grains) and also makes sure to eat adequate protein from chicken, tuna, and low fat milk products. He just had a wellness exam and was told that his blood pressure and cholesterol levels were optimal.

- Ron is 5’6” and is extremely muscular at 170 lb. He is in the weight room 6 days a week for 2 hours each session. He never does cardio because he’s afraid of losing mass and size. Ron eats a very high protein diet, stays away from starch and sugar, and supplements his diet with designer whey protein shakes, ECA stack (before workouts), and creatine monohydrate (after workouts). At his last wellness exam, he was told his blood pressure was elevated (probably related to the stimulants in the ECA stack and lack of cardio exercise), his blood cholesterol was borderline high (probably related to all the partially hydrogenated oils in the sports bars he eats, as well as his very low fiber intake), and his blood creatinine levels were high (from all the protein in his diet).

Which Do You think is healthier?

If you think Ron is healthier, you are wrong. Ron is so caught up with looking ripped and buff that he is sacrificing his health. This is an example of poor body image.

Ron is thinking that he needs to look buff from one thing. The media. Body image today is getting worse and worse. The computer altered bodies, the "what's hot" looks, and the desire to look like a model is causing for ones body image to tank. Today's media is causing for low self-esteem and increasing future potential health risks. Body image has little with how our body looks in actuality. It is controlled by self-esteem and what others think. Not to get mixed up with what i said earlier about health, Body image is controlled by self-esteem and what others think. If you let your personal body image to become poor, you are putting your future health at risk.

Sources from:
http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Body_Image/Body_Image.htm
http://www.mealsmatter.org/EatingForHealth/Topics/Healthy-Living-Articles/Teens-Body-Image.aspx