Introduction

Self-esteem simply refers to a person’s assessment of their worth, and everyone’s self-esteem is based on a list of things that we feel are important.
A person’s list might look like this:

   • How smart am I?
   • What kind of job do I have?
   • How much money do I earn?
   • How hard do I work?

Someone else’s list might look like this:

   • How pretty am I?
   • How great does my body look?
   • How many friends do I have?
   • Do I have a boyfriend/girlfriend?

The question here is: do you have a list? How is your own list? Take some time to think about the things that anchor your self-esteem.
Having low or high self-esteem is not just all about finding out what you have listed out. It’s also about how you think you’ll be successful with each item on this list.
Imagine that two people have the same list, the one at the top. If your criteria are intelligence, a good job, money, and hard work, and you just got a degree and a great job, you’re probably feeling pretty good about yourself.
But imagine that all of these things are important to you, that you have just been laid off and are struggling to find a new job. Then, your view of yourself will change completely.
So different people use different criteria to measure their worth. And self-esteem is primarily based on what you use to judge your worth and how well you think you are doing.
For some people, their body image can be positive or negative, but this has little impact on their self-esteem since physical appearance is not that important. For others, this is extremely important and will make or break how they feel as a whole.

If you keep a journal, reading back, maybe you can re-discover something about yourself you didn’t notice before.

Body image and self-assessment

By making their body image a top priority, some people are unhappy with their body, especially if they suffer from an eating disorder, and consider physical appearance to be very important. Actually, it is a relatively large part of the population.

We are bombarded daily with images and messages that tell them what a “perfect” body looks like and how important it is to try to achieve it. These can come from various sources, from social networks, friends, family, lovers, TV, and many more, affecting the emotion we feel and the interaction with the food.

What is the impact of a bad body image?

So, if there is a large population whose body image is important and who also have a negative view of their body, what are the consequences? Well, it could have a positive effect. If a person has a poor body image and is, in fact, overweight, this can motivate them to start exercising or adopt other healthy lifestyle habits.

However, there are also negative consequences. For example, suppose a person has a poor body image regarding an aspect of their body that they cannot change. In that case, the rumination of their dissatisfaction can lead to a depressed mood, frustration, hopelessness, deterioration of their self-esteem, and depression.

Self-awareness about the body can lead a lot to unnecessary avoidance techniques, either by doing everything possible to change or disguise the body or avoiding social contact altogether, hoping to avoid criticism and imaginary judgment from others. Over time, such avoidance can lead to isolation and loss of social support. Worse yet, eliminating it from your diet, either dramatically increasing it or reducing it, could lead to an eating disorder.

Eating disorders and body image

Poor body image and low self-esteem might result in eating disorders that might seem to start with some changes that appear harmless. A person who is slightly overweight decides to do something and begins to restrict their diet.

Little by little, the weight disappears, an improvement in their body image and the compliments of those around them make them restrict themselves even more. Goalposts change because the initial goal no longer seems sufficient, and therefore, dissatisfaction with the body returns or increases. Controlling what foods enter the body becomes increasingly important, and the thought of eating the “wrong” foods or skipping a workout causes discomfort and even fear.

Obviously, eating disorders are not a widespread consequence of poor body image, but they can be more common than you think. For example, between 1995 and 2005, eating disorder rates doubled for both men and women.

Young people are constantly exposed to unrealistic standards in the media, such as retouched images, skinny models, and overly muscular models, and therefore may feel the pressure to lose weight or have a particular appearance. As a result of these pressures, many children, adolescents, and young adults develop poor body image and low self-esteem. While it is typical for young people not to feel completely satisfied as their bodies change, your child or adolescent needs to find ways to be comfortable with their natural shape and size.

Sometimes can be useful to meet a professional that can help you deal with your body image.