The current unrealistic beauty standards make many people think that thin bodies are better and healthier than other ones. This resulted in the appearance of the act of “body shaming”; it is an inappropriate behavior that involves humiliating someone by making unacceptable or negative comments about their body size or shape.
Body shaming doesn’t apply to a certain body shape, hence “skinny shaming” is something commonly heard of. The act of body shaming can be carried out in person by your parents, siblings, friends, or people you’re not even close to, or remotely via the internet and social media as it often highlights physical appearance and makes it easy to post hurtful comments about others, which is considered cyberbullying.
Before commenting on someone’s body shape or size you should think twice as body shaming can lead to mental health issues including eating disorders, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and body dysmorphia, as well as the general feeling of hating one's body. Read more to discover the catastrophic effects of body shaming on one’s health.
Eating Disorders
When you give someone a negative image of their body, this will lead to developing disordered eating, such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating. They may start a very strict diet to change their body shape or size, however, such dieting can result in harmful behaviors like skipping meals, fasting, self-induced vomiting, or overeating. After that, they will end up losing essential nutrients that are necessary for our brain and general health or have problems in digestion like bloating, reflux, indigestion, and nausea.
Compulsive Exercise
When exercising becomes an addiction in order to either lose or gain weight, it can lead to persistent fatigue, and injuries, or initiate anxiety and depression. Compulsive exercising can develop into a syndrome called Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) where your calorie intake is insufficient for the energy you are spending.
Anxiety and Depression
If someone is being body-shamed, they may withdraw from others and feel isolated and alone. Body shaming in public or on social media can make them avoid going to any place where this shaming might occur, increase their insecurities, and damage their self-esteem. In addition, they may have these feelings of worthlessness and feel like they are not enough, this can result in extreme depression, anxiety, and an inferior body image.
In conclusion, be a motivating factor for someone to lose weight for the sake of their health instead of body shaming which has a completely opposite effect. And if you are being body-shamed, start your journey towards accepting yourself as you are. It takes patience and practice to change your beliefs and learn to be kind to yourself. Remember that, you can’t control what others say or do but, you can control the way you think.
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