Title: Girls and Body Image
Feed: CWKN #442, July 17, 2009
Time:  1:35
SUGGESTED LEAD: A NEW STUDY FROM GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY FINDS THAT GIRLS WHO ARE OVERWEIGHT … OR EVEN JUST THINK THEY ARE … ARE AT A HIGHER RISK FOR SUICIDE THAN KIDS WITH A HEALTHY BODY IMAGE.  CONNECT WITH KIDS HAS MORE ON THE DISTORTION GIRLS SEE IN THE MIRROR.
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NARR:  IT STARTS WHEN THEY’RE YOUNG … GIRLS WANT TO BE BEAUTIFUL …  (:03)

SUPER:  Ginny Coleman, 17 years old (:05)
“You’re learning who you are. You’re worrying about self-esteem issues- how you look.” 

NARR: ... AND THEY WANT TO BE THIN.  (:02)
 
SUPER:  Robin Davis, 16 years old  (:12)
“The media just sort of drills it in, that this is the ideal body image.”
 
NARR: BUT THE IDEAL CAN DISTORT YOUR SELF-IMAGE.

USING BLUE INK, THESE GIRLS CHOOSE A SILHOUETTE THEY THINK MATCHES THEIR OWN BODY.   (:09)

NATS:  “okay, I’m debating between three and four.”

NARR: AND THEN, IN PINK, THEY CIRCLE THE IMAGE THAT ACTUALLY MATCHES THEIR WEIGHT.

EACH GIRL THOUGHT THEY LOOKED HEAVIER THAN THEY REALLY ARE.

AND THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS.  (:12)

SOT:  Halle Hagenau, 17 years old (:41)
“If you have a really distorted body image a lot of times you can start hurting yourself in totally unhealthy ways- crazy diets and anorexia and bulimia or if you’re a guy, over-exercising your muscles.”

NARR: ACCORDING TO A GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDY OF 14-THOUSAND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS … A DISTORTED BODY IMAGE INCREASES THE RISK THAT A GIRL WILL ATTEMPT SUICIDE.

ONE REASON:  MEDIA IMAGES THAT ARE UNREALISTIC. (:15)

SUPER:  Ann Moore, PHD, Eating Disorder Specialist  (1:09)
“This is who you should be and this is what you should look like, this is the ideal—and the ideal isn’t even real.”

NARR: SHE SAYS PARENTS CAN HELP BY TEACHING THEIR CHILDREN TO CARE ABOUT WHAT REALLY IS THE IDEAL.  (:06)

SOT:  Ann Moore, Ph.D., Eating Disorder Specialist
“Recognizing that she’s intelligent, recognizing that she’s got a lot of spunk, recognizing that she’s funny, that she’s got a great sense of humor.  All of those things are much more important than what somebody looks like.”

SUGGESTED TAG:  THE RESEARCHERS FOUND THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OVERWEIGHT AND SUICIDE WAS THE SAME FOR BOYS AS GIRLS.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS AND OTHER STORIES LOG ONTO WWW.CONNECTWITHKIDS.COM.