Body Image: Support for Body Dissatisfaction

If your young person seems unhappy with how they look, act early. Body dissatisfaction can build over time through online content, comparison, comments, and pressure that is hard to avoid completely.

This page focuses on practical steps you can take at home and online to support your young person.

Signs to look out for

You might notice:

more negative comments about their body
comparing themselves with people online
getting upset after interacting with certain online content
strong focus on food, weight, skin, shape or muscles
hiding from photos or editing every photo
seeming flat, withdrawn, or ashamed.

These signs do not always mean something serious is wrong.

But they are a good reason to check in.

It’s easier to find content that’s judging your body rather than content that makes you feel good about your body.

Clinical participant — Digital Reflections research, 2024

How to support a young person showing signs of body dissatisfaction

Start with support, not punishment.

Try to:

stay calm
slow things down
focus on what your young person needs right now
avoid reacting with blame
remind yourself this may have been building for a while.

Small changes at home can help.

Try to:

stop comments about weight gain or weight loss
stop joking about food, body shape, or appearance
avoid criticising your own body in front of your young person
praise effort, strengths, humour, kindness, and creativity
keep body talk neutral and respectful.

Findings from the 2024 Digital Reflections research suggest that parents can influence body image through both direct comments and modelling.

If your young person is willing, look at this together.

Focus on:

the type of content that keeps coming up
messages about 'ideal' bodies
content that pushes diets, beauty fixes, or appearance pressure
accounts that trigger comparison
whether harmful messages are repeated across different spaces.

The aim is not to inspect everything. The aim is to understand the patterns affecting your young person.

Work on one or two changes first.

You could:

unfollow accounts that make your young person feel worse
mute topics where possible
block harmful accounts
report harmful content
follow content that feels more realistic, diverse, or supportive
review privacy settings and who can contact them.

Note that the Digital Reflections research suggests unwanted body image content can be hard to avoid completely, and that it may surface even without a young person seeking it out.

Make a simple support plan

Keep it small and doable.

Try this:

Pick one pressure point to work on first.
Agree on one online change.
Agree on one home change.
Check in again in a few days.
Add more support if things are not improving.

You could try to:

mute one triggering account
stop body comments at home
take a break from one type of content
choose a trusted adult your young person can go to for support.

Taking devices away may stop the conversation, not solve the problem.

Young people use their devices for support, to connect with their communities. They may avoid coming to adults for help, fearing that their device may be taken away.

What often helps more than removing a device, is an adult staying involved:

check in often
help your young person question what they see online
make small changes together
keep support steady over time.

Tips to support young people online

Build critical literacy skills — Talk to your young person about the realities of airbrushing, filtering, augmenting and enhancing images, to remind them that what they see online is not always authentic or realistic.
Role model behaviours — Adults are not immune from the pressures or intensity of online content. If it's no longer fun, or leading to negative feelings, then role model taking some time offline.
Encourage them to be kind online — Comments about someone's appearance can have a lasting effect. Encourage your young person to take action to support someone if they see unkind comments. They could direct message them, or report the comment to the app.
Keep talking — Look for opportunities to talk to your young person regularly about their online experiences without criticising, and let them know you're here to support them.

Support your young person to take control of their social feeds

You like one thing or you look at one picture or search up one thing, like how to eat healthy, and then your whole algorithm will have something to do with dieting and fashion and all that stuff...

Male, 17, NZ European — Digital Reflections research, 2024

Tips for managing an Instagram account

Check out both account settings and feed management tips to support your young person to take more control of the online content they are consuming.

What to remember

You do not need to know everything.

You do not need to fix everything in one go.

The most helpful thing is often staying close, staying calm, and taking the next step together.

When to get more help

Reach out sooner if:

distress is strong or keeps going
body image worries are affecting daily life
your young person seems overwhelmed
your young person asks for help
online harm or harassment is part of what is going on
you feel out of your depth.

I think definitely if you have a kid come to you and kind of try to talk to you about their struggles... try understanding that it's probably serious, the fact that they've come to talk to you about it.

Clinical participant — Digital Reflections research, 2024