Several articles show that girls are more conscience of dieting and seem to be more preoccupied with how much they weigh than boys the same age and girls have a greater drive to achieve thinness and their body image concerns were related to a family history of eating concerns, peers, teasing, depression and self-worth where boys related body image concerns related to fewer factors than that of girls. Several articles show that around 25-45% of girls are either worried about their weight or are dieting. The connections between body image dilemmas and psychological instabilities in adolescence seems to be persistent concerns among adolescents when it comes to their weight, body image, dieting and eating behavior. There is a lot of attention has been concentrated on family and peer influences in the development of body image in children and adolescents. .
Parents and family have a huge influence of how young siblings or children see their own bodies through direct communication of weight connected attitudes and opinions. Peers have a card in the game of body image as well. Some adolescents view their peers dieting habits, eating schedules and body image and gauge their own after that of their peers. Girls see their peers as a link to body image and what they want and what they set their goals to be but it seems like teasing has the strongest of influence on whether or not eating and weight concerns develop. Teasing or bullying by peers seems to be very common during childhood and adolescent years where their physical appearance and their weight seem to be a primary focus of how they are treated. With this in mind, there seems to be a stronger link between BMI and stage of maturation or sexual maturity rather than between BMI and chronological age [Cow, 14]. Children that are obese having feelings of being socially discriminated against and often branded by their peers and adults within their surroundings.
