A recent study by UK-based Girlguiding highlights the significant impact of appearance pressures on young girls in the UK. The study reveals troubling statistics about their self-esteem and the influence of online content. More than half of girls aged 7-21 have reported receiving negative comments about their appearance, with nearly half of girls aged 11-16 expressing a desire to look like they do with online filters.
While the study, supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery, focuses on young women in the United Kingdom, many of its findings likely apply to the United States, where body image issues among young women have been a growing concern for many years.
Confidence Issues Are Starting At Just 7 Years Old
According to the the study, girls as young as seven already feel expectations to look and behave differently from boys. That perceived expectation has led to a growing confidence gap between genders.
Here are some of the study’s key findings:
- 59% of girls aged 11-21 have negative thoughts about their looks affecting their confidence.
- 34% of girls aged 7-10 feel there are different expectations compared to boys, an 11% increase from a decade ago.
Compliments Have Played A Big Role In Confidence For Young Girls
The study also found that compliments about their looks directly impact confidence, with 11 to 16-year-old girls reporting the most significant change in confidence.
- 37% of girls aged 7-10
- 50% of girls of all ages
- 57% of girls aged 11-16
Every Age Group Of Girls Reported Lower Confidence Than Their Male Counterparts
While every age group reported lower confidence than boys, that gap grew wider as the young women aged.
- 78% of girls aged 11-21 know peers who worry about their body image.
- Over half (61%) of girls aged 11-16 reported wanting to lose weight.
- 37% of girls aged 11-16 have dieted.
- 62% of girls aged 11-21 are aware of peers with eating disorders.
- Nearly half (48%) of girls aged 17-21 consider cosmetic changes within the next 20 years.
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The increasing time teenage girls spend online is exacerbating these pressures. Negative online experiences, such as harmful comments and image filters often used on social media apps, contribute to declining self-esteem.
Social Media Is Causing Major Issues For Confidence
Social media is a massive contributor to declining confidence. The young women reported numerous issues based on their social media usage in the last year.
- 44% of girls aged 11-21 saw images that made them feel insecure.
- Over half (54%) wished to look like their filtered online selves.
- 36% felt pressure to use filters when posting online.
The pressure to use filters is exceptionally high among neurodiverse, disabled, LGBTQ+ girls and those in high-deprivation areas.
What Can Be Done To Lessen The Effects Children Are Feeling?
Girlguiding has taken an approach based on demanding transparency.
The agency urges the UK government to require advertisers and influencers to disclose when filters, editing software, or AI have altered images. I would love to see this type of transparency in the United States, where our social media apps are dominated by fake posting, filters, and other means of technology that often paint an impossible-to-achieve a set of standards.
Developing self-confidence at a young age can be a crucial building block for a person’s future. Here’s to hoping more is done to protect our young children from the harmful effects that come standard these days with social media use.
