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From social media’s beauty filters to advertisements for products to get the “perfect” body, teens are bombarded with messages that their looks fall short.
At St Mary’s Canossian College in Hong Kong, 14-year-old Valerie Chiu noticed that some of her peers developed a habit of wearing masks because they thought they looked better this way.
The pupil attributed this to social media posts that promote unrealistic beauty standards, which can harm teenagers’ self-esteem as they compare themselves to seemingly perfect models.
“It’s not just about facial appearance,” Valerie said. “Some of my peers try to eat less or even skip their breakfast to lose weight and look skinnier – even though at school, we have learned the importance of a balanced diet.”
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Stephanie Ng – founder of Body Banter, a charity engaging youth in healthy conversations about body image and mental health – has observed that many students grapple with insecurities about how they look.
“Traditional Asian values, like the emphasis on being ‘glowy, slim, and beautiful’, continue to shape societal beauty standards and can impact individuals’ self-perception,” she said.
According to Ng, who has a master’s degree in clinical psychology, Hong Kong is saturated with messages that having a specific body type will lead to happiness, success and admiration.
“These messages often link certain appearance standards with desirable personality traits like self-discipline, confidence and determination,” she said.
Ng added that diet culture could be particularly harmful to youth. During puberty and major life transitions, young people are especially vulnerable to these messages, seeing them as a quick fix for their insecurities.
“I’ve observed ... a strong link between the allure of diet culture messaging and this need to show achievement in ... [an] effortless manner,” she said.
How teachers can step in
Ng stressed the need for teachers to be trained about the connection between body image and mental health in young people.
“This would help them understand helpful and harmful messages and recognise warning signs that could indicate concerning levels of body image and mental distress among their students,” she said.
Ng highlighted the impact that teachers could have on students: “How they discuss food, body, and exercise in the classroom can shape young people’s view on these topics.”
She added: “Trusted teachers are often the first people students turn to for help with personal issues they may not want to share with peers, parents or mental health professionals.”
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Ansley Lee – an English teacher and counselling mistress at Kiangsu-Chekiang College – said body image was a topic in the curriculum, but under personal, social and humanities education, teachers tended to focus more on mental health issues related to internet use, peer relationships and academic pressure.
“I believe this is the norm in many secondary schools in Hong Kong,” Lee said. “But I think teachers can explore beyond the textbook and use it as a starting point for students to explore other related issues such as self-confidence.”
Valerie agreed: “Schools can play a vital role in teaching students positive values, including self-confidence, which can foster a healthier relationship with their bodies.”
She shared that her school provided social workers to support those struggling with negative emotions, such as low self-esteem. Students also regularly participate in workshops on positivity.
“In addition to these, our school can organise events to promote body positivity and provide a safe and supportive space for students to express themselves,” Valerie said.
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Systems of support
Educators are crucial to helping teens develop body positivity, but Ng said schools should respect teachers’ workload while empowering them with the needed tools to support students.
“A key barrier to effective support [for pupils] is often teachers’ overwhelming responsibilities and lack of professional training in mental health,” she said.
Last December, the Hong Kong government implemented a three-tier reporting system to help students at risk of suicide. However, experts have said that teachers need more support in diagnosing students and that the process is still too cumbersome for schools.
Ng agreed that schools and authorities should look at streamlining the process of referring students in distress to appropriate care. She added that education authorities could also allocate time to body image as part of the mental health education curriculum.
Valerie believes it is crucial that Hong Kong schools take the initiative to create a culture of body positivity.
“Teenagers who are too focused on their appearance may withdraw socially and become less open-minded,” she said. “Body positivity can encourage students to be more caring, compassionate and courageous in their interactions with others.”
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