Some German researchers just went through the trouble of interviewing 7,000 11-to-17 year-olds about their body image issues–and unearthed some surprising results. (Cue pinky to corner of mouth here, Austin Powers style).
Even though about 75% of the kiddies were considered “normal weight,” half of the “normal weight” girls and a quarter of the “normal weight” boys thought they were TOO fat. I guess 25% were considered not “normal weight,” as in ” actually were too fat.”
The kiddies then were all given quality-of-life and self-esteem tests and–surprise, surprise–the “I think I’m too fats” scored as poorly as the “actually were too fats” in these areas. And when it came to family relationship questions (I wonder what those were), the “I think I’m too fats” scored lower than the “actually were too fats.”
Which led some publications to come up with versions of the following unfortunate headline when covering this issue: “Feeling Fat Is Worse Than Being Fat.” Enough said.
The findings were published in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, a German medical journal.
Tags: body image, Deutsches Ärzteblatt Internationa, german researchers, normal weight, teenagers, too fat
