Promoting Body Image Awareness – Interview Series #4: Meet “Melanie”

08/10/25:

Did you know that around 80% of girls and 50% of boys in Western countries have body image concerns during high school, according to the data from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and the National Organization for Women (NOW)? The numbers are even higher for LGBTQ+ teens. People who struggle with body image are also more likely to develop eating disorders.

To help bring more attention to this issue, I’m starting an interview series with people I know. They’ll be sharing their personal stories—what they’ve gone through, how it’s affected them, and the ways they’ve learned to cope. I’m interviewing eight high school students from diverse genders and backgrounds. Each interview will be shared in a blog series—stay tuned!

To keep things private, I’m using fake names for everyone I interview.

Q1. Overall, do you think you are satisfied with your body? Why or why not?

I am not quite satisfied with my body. In the past, when my parents and their friends say that I’m too skinny, their comments rarely stay in my mind. However, recently, my parents pointed out that my shoulders are very uneven with one being much higher than the other. This feedback makes me want to improve my body constantly, trying my best to even out my shoulders, like putting heavy objects only on my left shoulder. While it encouraged me to pay a lot more attention to my body, it made me dread not being able to ever have perfectly even shoulders.

Q2. How has your body image affected your mental health?

My body image has slightly dampened my mental health. I know that there are quite a few problems with my body (like uneven shoulders and skinniness), which sometimes makes me feel that I am inadequate. I think my mental health has also worsened my body and body image. Whenever I get stressed, such as before taking tests, I tend to eat very less, wrongly assuming that I don’t have enough time to eat. This caused my body to get much skinner and subsequently weaker over time.

Q3. Do you ever find yourself comparing your body to other people? How does that make you feel?

I sometimes find myself comparing my body to my older sister. Whenever my mom points out my uneven shoulders, she also remarks about how my sister has great shoulders, as she has danced for a long time. This makes me feel a little unhappy with myself about my shoulders at first. However, it also makes me realize that I should put more effort into improving my body through regular exercise.

Q4. What advice would you give to people who are insecure about their bodies?

I would advise people who are insecure about their bodies to believe in themselves more. Nobody is perfect and no body is perfect, no matter how much advertisements and media try to say differently. Beauty is often in the eyes of the beholder. I believe that true beauty comes from a person’s confidence in themselves rather than any superficial makeup products or surgeries. In one of my favorite childhood stories, The Twits, infamous writer Roald Dahl reveals, “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” On the other hand, a beautiful person on the outside with ugly thoughts on the inside can eventually become a very ugly person. So, it’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that truly matters.