Childline predicts a rising number of children seeking its counselling services this summer due to body image issues and eating disorders.
New data from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC) service indicates that it delivered 4,229 counselling sessions to young people concerning these issues from April 2023 to March 2024.
The service has revealed that it saw a peak in demand for help with body image issues and eating disorders in August last year, when pupils are not expected to be in school and may spend more time either on social media platforms or outdoors.
Notably, an overwhelming majority of these counselling sessions were provided to girls.
Of the cases where the gender of the counselee was identified, 88 per cent of the sessions were with females, 6 per cent with males and another 6 per cent with individuals who identified as trans or non-binary.
The first-hand testimony from a 14-year-old girl in Wales illustrates the type of distress young girls can face.
She revealed to Childline: "I got a voice note off a girl at my school saying I’m ugly and that nobody will ever love me.
"I could hear her friends laughing in the background too – it was horrible.
"I’ve tried telling myself that I don’t care but in reality, I do. It’s like that voice note is always at the back of my head and it’s really affected how I view myself.
"I don’t feel comfortable sharing this with anyone else right now. I just want to get my confidence back."
Complementing the findings from Childline is NHS data from a 2023 survey of children which showed that 27.9 per cent of 11- to 16-year-olds believed they were overweight, even when others viewed them as slim.
This percentage reflected an increase from 22.8 per cent in 2017.
The issues that recurred in Childline counselling sessions included self-comparison with social media figures, guilt around eating, extreme weight management approaches, desires to alter their bodies surgically or cosmetically, and concerns about eating disorders becoming unmanageable.
Summer appears to be a challenging period for young people struggling with their body image or their relationship with food according to Childline.
The cause of distress could be from wearing lighter clothing which reveals their bodies more, causing them to feel pressure to appear a certain way.
For others, increased time on the internet over the summer in order to stay connected with friends and keep entertained may expose them to adverse content, making them develop negative perceptions of their physical appearance.
Changes in daily routines and eating habits during the summer may also prove difficult for children with eating disorders.
To protect children from damaging online content related to body image and eating disorders, the NSPCC is urging Ofcom to improve its approach to the Online Safety Act.
Kieran Lyons, service head of Childline, said: "Seeing a spike in contacts about body image issues and eating disorders in August shows us that the summer holidays can be a particularly tough time for some young people.
"This could be a result of them seeing more content online or on the television and being in situations that makes them more anxious about their body image.
"Regardless of their situation or worries, Childline wants to remind all young people that our trained counsellors are here for them and that no child should feel like they are alone with any concerns they have."
Help is available for youngsters over the phone on 0800 1111, by email or through a 121 chat on the Childline website, which also offers advice and peer support through moderated message boards.
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