55% adolescent girls miss out on life opportunities due to low body esteem: Report

More than half of all girls aged 10-17 are missing out on key opportunities in life due to not having high self-esteem about their bodies, according to Dove.

A new report released by the beauty giant Dove found that 54% of girls within the age category of 10-17 do not have high body esteem, with the research also drawing the conclusion that girls with low body esteem are more likely to withdraw from fundamental life-building activities.

The 2017 Dove Global Girls Beauty and Confidence Report was conducted by Edelman Intelligence and involved interviewing 5,165 girls aged 10-17 across 14 different countries. Globally, 55% of girls will avoid spending time with friends and family, participating in activities outside the house, or trying out for a team or club if they aren’t happy with the way they look, the report found. For girls with low body esteem, this percentage rises to 80%.

Furthermore, girls with high body esteem appeared better equipped to deal with the pressures of unattainable beauty ideals in the media, with 78% saying they believe they are beautiful, despite differences with images portrayed by the media. Only 12% of girls with low body esteem said the same.

However, 70% of girls surveyed also believe that too much emphasis is placed on beauty as a source of happiness, and 68% wish the media would do “a better job” of portraying diverse women. Encouragingly, 82% think something about them is beautiful, and 80% feel more confident after doing things that make them feel happy about themselves. “Our research shows that a girl aged 17 is more likely to experience lower happiness and life satisfaction than a 10-year-old,” says Sophie Galvani, Global Vice President, Dove Masterbrand. “This is a crucial moment in a girl’s life where proactive intervention and support is needed.”

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