70% of junior, senior high school students have body-image anxiety: Foundation

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) A recent survey has shown that 70 percent of junior and senior high school students in Taiwan suffer anxiety over their appearance, the Child Welfare League Foundation said Wednesday.

Of the 12,320 junior and senior high school students surveyed online earlier this year, 71.1 percent were "dissatisfied" with their body image, while 8.3 percent were "completely dissatisfied," the foundation said.

Moreover, 45.2 percent of respondents said they had edited their photos or videos or refrained from sharing them due to anxieties over their appearance.

According to the foundation, 38.4 percent of high school students believe that as long as photos look good, it does not matter if they are edited or differ from reality.

This shows that for youths, "photo deception" is not an issue; the ideal presentation online is more important than reality, distorting their self-perception, the foundation said.

The survey also revealed that 38.8 percent of children and adolescents felt overweight, awkward, or inferior after seeing images of attractive people online.

In addition, 57.8 percent of children and adolescents felt they should gain or lose weight to achieve their ideal appearance, with 12.2 percent already actively dieting or losing weight, indicating a risk of eating disorders.

When asked if they have taken action to change themselves due to appearance anxiety, 58 percent of youths admitted to doing so, including paying attention to fashion, skincare, dieting, hair dyeing and perming, and wearing makeup.

The survey also found that 60.7 percent of youths wanted to change their appearance due to peer pressure.

The internet's impact on youths' aesthetic standards is also significant, with 25 percent influenced by online articles or videos and 19 percent influenced by internet celebrities or bloggers to change their appearance.

The survey also showed that 30.5 percent of youths use filters to look better, nearly 19.2 percent retouch facial blemishes like pimples, and 14.1 percent refrain from uploading photos that do not look good.

The foundation said that appearance anxiety has become a significant issue brought about by social media and that society should pay attention to this issue and help children and adolescents establish the right values about self-image.

In addition, reducing teenagers' internet usage and decreasing the frequency of social media exposure can also gradually alleviate appearance anxiety, the foundation said.

Parents should develop a time without digital media products with their children to increase genuine parent-child interactions, the foundation added.

Parents and teenagers can contact the Child Welfare League Foundation at 0800-532880 or 0800-001769, where professional social workers can provide suggestions when they have questions regarding these issues.