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The myth that eating disorders only affect women means there are still too many men who aren’t getting help.
While it’s great to see more women accepting and celebrating their bodies for the way they were born to be, body image issues and eating disorders are mental health issues that do not discriminate. The difference is that they often look different in men, who are more likely to over exercise, abuse muscle building substances and engage in unsustainable diets. In pursuit of a big, tall, muscular and lean ideal, destructive behaviours can easily lead to both physical problems and psycho-social distress.
Our guest, Alex Rodriguez, went through his own battle with eating and exercise, became an accredited dietitian, and now supports other men in recovery.
“Our worth as men, or as human beings, is not determined by what we look like, nor how we eat, nor how good we are at “insert name’ exercise,” he says. "Much of my work includes normalising and destigmatising mental health experiences. I just want the world to be a safer, less judgemental, more accepting place."
Listen to Alex on body ideals in relation to men, their experience of eating disorders, and how a sympathetic health professional can support a more genuine and sustainable health.
Find out more about Alex Rodriguez
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There can be shame, guilt and fear attached to a struggle with one’s body or eating, not to mention confusion about whether you, or your loved one, may have a diagnosable or treatable problem. These are just some of the reasons why too many people don’t ask for help. It’s a pity, because talking to a professional can be life-changing. That’s why the Australian Government provides funding to the Butterfly National Helpline, a free and discreet information and support service available to anyone, anywhere in Australia. It's a safe space to connect with a trained counsellor; all you need is the courage to take that first step.
“You need somebody who understands how complex and multifaceted eating and body image-related struggles can be,” says Ayesha Khan, the Helpline’s Clinical Operations Lead. “Everyone is welcome to contact us with their questions or concerns. Typically, people experiencing an issue with their eating behaviours reach out, but it could also be their family members or friends. Many health professionals contact us too.
”We asked Ayesha to walk us through how to use the Helpline, what it can and cannot do, what help-seekers can expect when they connect, and her insider’s view of the service.
Tune in to our latest episode to discover how the Butterfly National Helpline can support you, your loved one, or your client.
Contact the Butterfly National Helpline
If you are in crisis contact Triple Zero
If you are in crisis, contact Lifeline
If you are a young person in crisis, contact Kids Helpline
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Carolyn Costin is one of the most well-known names in eating disorder recovery treatment. Her book, Eight Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder, is a pioneering work that was published more than a decade ago and is still regarded as a central text in the field.
Some people think of eating disorders in terms of addiction, with programs to actively get drugs, alcohol, and other addictions out of one’s life. The problem is you can’t do that with food: “You have to learn how to deal with it”, says Carolyn. “It's very different.”
Her eight keys provide insights and steps for facing the daunting task of recovery. From her own lived experience, and extensive work in the field, Carolyn clarifies the overarching topics for us to work through and come to the other side of this illness.
In fact, she's had a hand in numerous initiatives to progress full recovery throughout her career. She developed the first residential treatment centre in the United States that has been replicated in other countries, including Australia. She’s also training recovery coaches to address the very real gaps in care. Carolyn is perennially interesting, and her message of hope is always enlightening.
Read the 8 keys to recovery from an eating disorder
Learn more about Wandi Nerida residential treatment
Learn more about Carolyn Costin
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Going through fertility treatment can be a nerve-wracking and sometimes demoralising experience. When it’s coupled with a past or current eating disorder, the whole process can be even more complicated.
Why? “Fertility difficulties and going through fertility treatment can increase the risk of an eating disorder, but also, eating disorders can impact fertility,” says National Eating Disorder Collaboration National Manager, Dr. Sarah Trobe.
The NEDC has a new program to help educate health professionals about these issues. It’s important because the intersection between those seeking fertility treatment and those with eating disorders is surprisingly high. Not enough health practitioners are yet aware of this.
“Up to 16% of those seeking fertility care are also experiencing a current eating disorder, which is much higher than the general population,” says Dr. Trobe. "And around 25% have a past lived experience.”
Listen to Dr. Trobe share up-to-the-minute learnings from NEDC’s work in this space and how health care professionals can identify risks and respond appropriately when needed. Importantly, Dr. Trobe also offers insights and tips for self-care around eating and body image for people in treatment, as well as for those thinking about starting the process.
Read Pregnancy: A Guide for Assessment and Referral
Access core skills training for fertility care and eating disorders
Find out more about NEDC
Find out more about Dr Sarah Trobe
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A staggering ninety-five percent of young Australians aged between 12 and 18 are experiencing some level of body image concern, and more than half are unhappy with how their body looks. That’s according to Butterfly’s second Body Kind Youth Survey.
With body dissatisfaction playing a significant role in the development of eating disorders, it’s not surprising that this data makes sense in relation to Butterfly’s latest Paying the Price Report, which shows 27% of individuals with an eating disorder are aged 19 or younger.
It's quite clear there’s a problem, but what can we do? How can parents and caregivers reduce risk and support the individual young people they love?
In this episode of Let’s Talk, we invited our audience to submit their direct questions. Then we asked Helen Bird, Butterfly’s Education Manager and Lead on the Survey, to respond.
While acknowledging that it’s not always easy talking to teens, Helen delivered.
“We live in a society where body size matters,” she says. “And people are picking up very strong messages from a young age. It’s in the media, in books, in the toys that they're playing with.”
The trick is to focus on health-promoting behaviours, that is, ensuring that our teens are eating nutritious food, they’re moving regularly, they're getting enough sleep, they're practising self-care strategies, and that they have positive coping mechanisms. These are the things that contribute to our teens’ health and happiness; it's not necessarily about their shape and weight.
And if you are noticing signs of a problem? “Lean in with compassion and curiosity,” says Helen. “Talk about the things that you've noticed, but in terms of your young person’s feelings and moods. Again, try not to focus on weight or eating behaviours because that’s quite likely to be met with resistance.”
Tune in for more of Helen’s wise and empowering tips, even if you might have body image issues yourself. Working to heal your own relationship with your body is not only good for you but also for the people around you, including your teens.
Find out more about Butterfly's Body Kind Youth Survey Findings
Find out more about Butterfly's Body Kind Families
Find out more Butterfly's Education and Prevention Services
Find out more about our Paying the Price Report
Contact our Helpline
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The concept of including peers in your treatment team, that is people who have recovered from a similar health experience to yours, is not new in healthcare.
Alcoholics Anonymous, for example, has successfully engaged the support of recovered people—called sponsors—since the 1930s.
However, until recently, the model of care has remained quite uncommon. The good news it's experiencing a much welcomed revival, with peer support widely being seen as vital to an eating disorder recovery team.
“Peer work is a new space compared to clinical support, but it is incredibly powerful,” says Reece Georgas, a peer worker in Butterfly’s new Next Steps program that offers support to people discharging from hospital care. “I think it's a game changer.”
Reece turned years of difficult mental health challenges and an eating disorder into something of value for others on a path he knows well.
“Out of all the hospitals I've been in, the one where the therapist had a lived experience and where the groups were peer led – this is what I found to be most beneficial.”
Listen to Reece’s honest description of his own experience and how peer workers are skilled to use their mental health story intentionally to support others safely.
Find out more about Butterfly's Next Steps Program
Find out more about Butterfly's Peer-led Recovery Support Group
Find out more about Butterfly's Peer-led Program for Carers
Read our Peer Workforce Guidelines
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Improvements in quality of life and reduced healthcare costs are just some of the benefits uncovered in a Monash University study of Australia’s only residential treatment program for people struggling with eating disorders.
Wandi Nerida, based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, provides a unique model of holistic, person-centred, inpatient care. As the rate of eating disorders continues to rise, so does the need for improved treatment approaches.
“We're trying to step away from that more clinical hospital feel, where everything's super sterile,” says Dr Carly Roukos, Want Nerida’s Clinical Lead. “As much as possible, we try to have it feel less like a hospital and much more like a home.”
In this episode of Let’s Talk, Dr. Roukos shares how the pioneering model of care at Wandi Nerida was first developed, and what life’s like for participants who receive treatment there.
Dr Roukos has been with the centre from its inception in 2020 and has played an important role in developing the successful clinical program.
“The transition from treatment to home can be really difficult,” she says. “So, we provide opportunities to practice real-life things in real-life settings to help with that transition.”
This piece is key post discharge from hospital: How do we maintain our health and recovery in regular life? Dr Roukos addresses this issue and more.
Find out more about Wandi Nerida
Enquire about placement at Wandi Nerida
Meet the team at Wandi Nerida
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Please note: This episode was briefly published prematurely on the 4th of April. If you listened to it then we apologise for the repeat.
If you’ve ever wondered what the public in Australia knows and thinks about eating disorders and body image issues, this episode will put all your questions to rest. We unpack the latest findings from Butterfly's 2024 Community Insights Report with our Head of Knowledge, Research and Policy who shares her perspective on some enlightening results.
The report focuses on community awareness, perceptions, and attitudes, and while Dr. Squire shares the key findings, she also compares these with a previous report published four years ago. What are the implications of community understanding (and misunderstanding) for those with lived experience and the sector at large? Has anything changed?
One key part of the study reveals some dangerous myths and stereotypes surrounding eating disorders, and Dr Squire examines how various misconceptions impact those who might need support.
“We need to understand that eating disorder stigma is complex, important, and under researched. And we can't identify signs and symptoms or support people to seek help without understanding how public stigma and, consequently, self-stigma works for people because stigma around eating disorders is different to other types of mental health stigma.”
Listen to Dr. Squire explain it all – you'll be surprised by what we found out.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2024 COMMUNITY INSIGHTS REPORT
ARE YOU AT RISK? TRY OUR NEW SCREENING TOOL
JOIN OUR 101 WEBINAR ABOUT EATING DISORDERS ON APRIL 17
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DR. SARAH SQUIRE
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We often talk about the psycho-emotional costs of eating disorders for those living with them; but up to this point, we haven’t learned much about the costs to society.
Now we know. Since 2012, there’s been a shocking 36 per cent increase in the economic burden of eating disorders to the people of Australia. In the meantime, 1.1 million people in this country are currently living with an eating disorder – that's an increase of 21% in only ten years.
These and many other disturbing metrics are in the new Paying the Price Report, produced by Deloitte Access Economics and Butterfly. “In terms of economic cost, we're talking sixty-seven billion dollars per year,” says Jim Hungerford, Butterfly’s CEO. “Yet, in comparison, the amount of money that is spent to prevent eating disorders or to support people who do develop them is actually minuscule.”
Chantel, invested in their recovery, can relate - including that their condition could have been prevented. “The cost of my eating disorder takes up about 20% of my annual income," they say. “And this is even with Medicare rebates and private health insurance. To access a therapist for fortnightly sessions, a dietitian for quarterly sessions and a psychiatrist for quarterly sessions to manage my medication, costs me up to $11,738.97 cents every year.”
Chantel isn’t alone, and action is needed to change the paradigm, not only for the community but for the sake of taxpayers too. Listen to Butterfly’s CEO, Jim Hungerford, Deloitte’s reporting lead, Simone Cheung, and people with living experience unpack the report, and what it means for the future of prevention and care.
Find out more about Paying the Price Report
Find out more about the Parliamentary Friends Group
Find out more about Simeone Cheung
Find out more about Deloitte Access Economics
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We should let you know that this episode discusses sexual abuse and comes with a trigger warning. It's about trauma, which is an individual’s response to an event or series of events that have deeply disturbed their sense of safety, security, or well-being.
While research shows a clear intersection between trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders, too few health professionals include trauma therapy in their practice. Why? They’re concerned that by opening the “trauma box” there’ll be a worsening of symptoms or relapse.
The problem is that this assumption is wrong. Not all people with eating disorders have indeed experienced trauma, but clinicians need to be trauma-informed to support their clients in understanding and addressing what they may have lived through. This is because appropriate discovery with appropriate care will have a positive impact on their eating behaviours.
Listen to leading clinicians and people with lived experience of both trauma and eating disorders discuss this difficult but important topic, with useful insights on what can help.
Find out more about dr Mandy Goldstein
Find out more about Archana Waller
Find out more about Lucia Osborne-Crowley
Contact the Butterfly National Helpline
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This month we’re talking to a distinguished social epidemiologist and behavioural scientist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Her name is Professor Bryn Austin, and her research focuses on public health approaches to eating disorders.
Our conversation begins with an overview of the web that connects consumer culture, corporate exploitation, and the pervasive influence of diet culture on body image. “We’ve known for decades how harmful the consumer marketplace can be with diet culture, the diet industry, diet pills and supplements, and all the negative body image pressures that come through media, social media and advertising,” she says. “People have been writing about this for decades.”
The problem is we still need to more deeply understand–and do more to address—what corporations are doing to exploit diet culture for profit.
Don’t miss Professor Austin’s wise perspective. Not only does she share her thoughts on the complexities of the body image and eating disorders landscape, but she also discusses the transformative potential of strategic initiatives, including what her Harvard-based laboratory did to protect young Americans from predatory diet-industry profiteering.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROFESSOR BRYN AUSTIN
READ ABOUT AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS STRATEGY
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We’re talking about the higher-weight paradox, particularly when well-meaning health professionals can trigger an eating disorder or make one worse.
Not everything health issue is solved by losing weight, yet that is what people in larger bodies too often hear. Worse, numerous people living with eating disorders remain undiagnosed and untreated because the stereotype of an eating disorder doesn’t fit their reality.
Melissa says she had an eating disorder from age 12 but wasn’t diagnosed until age 22. In fact, her unhelpful behaviours were encouraged: “All that my doctors cared about was for me to lose weight,” she says.
Professor Leah Brennan of Latrobe University reports that eating disorders occur across the size spectrum and the prevalence of eating disorders is actually greater in people in larger bodies.
One problem, says GP Samantha Wyton, is that people in non-typical body shapes and sizes are too often made to feel unsafe and unwelcome in medical settings.
“We’re taught that obesity is a disease in medical training,” she says. But it’s a lot more complex than that. “We need to embrace the full spectrum of shapes and sizes, because that’s the reality of the human condition.”
Dietitian Dr Fiona Willer, agrees. “The effect of weight centrism, particularly in primary care, is that people will delay going to the doctor until they can’t avoid it,” she says. And that effectively creates an issue for all their health outcomes, not only body image and eating disorders.
Listen to Sam unpack this issue with our group of concerned and articulate guests, including their thoughts about how we can and must change.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RISKS AND WARNING SIGNS
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROFESSOR LEAH BRENNAN
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DR SAMANTHA WYTON
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DR FIONA WILLER
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR #QUIETTHENOISE CAMPAIGN FEATURING SARAH COX
FIND A PROFESSIONAL
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At the recent Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders conference on the Gold Coast, we spoke to experts about new and groundbreaking insights into eating disorders. This episode is the second in a series of two.
Dr Simon Wilksch unpacks his work around the significant financial and emotional costs that families face when caring for children with eating disorders and, to improve outcomes, why he recommends that parents and caregivers receive support too.
Monash’s Courney McLean talks about the complex relationship between vegetarianism, veganism, and eating disorders, and the tool she’s developing to assess motivation for adopting to a plant-based diet. Her work points the way to improved diagnosis and care for vegetarians and vegans experiencing eating disorders.
Belinda Chelius, CEO of Eating Disorders Queensland, explains her evidence-based rationale for including lived experience practitioners in eating disorder treatment, and why lived experience has always provided the infrastructure for EDQs work.
Finally, Dr. Renee Denham, a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Brisbane, describes the interplay between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and restrictive eating, and how we can identify and help those kids affected.
These conversations reveal the multifaceted nature of eating disorders and the innovative approaches being taken to address them.
Find out more about ANZAED
Find out more about Simon Wilksch
Find out more about Courtney McLean
Find out more about Belinda Chelius
Find out more about Renee Denham
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The key to understanding any mental illness is to listen to those who have been through it. Not only can the voices of those with lived experience of an eating disorder help those who are currently impacted, but they also, importantly, serve to educate the health professionals who will provide care.
The evidence is clear: Services that are co-designed with those who know their own situation will always have the best chance of success.
That’s why the voice of lived experience is being embedded in most new treatment initiatives, including the recently launched and much heralded National Eating Disorders Strategy of 2023 – 2033.
Our guest, Shannon Calvert, experienced a longstanding and severe eating disorder and through the ups and downs of her own journey has since dedicated her life in recovery as a much needed voice and advocate for others.
“Through my own recovery, there were health professionals that didn’t want to do eating disorders or didn’t know how to do eating disorders. It was too complex, too challenging for them. That shifted my perspective in terms of how we can do things differently", she says.
Today, Shannon collaborates with all parts of the sector -- health professionals, researchers, and policymakers to develop person-centered, compassionate and integrated health care for better outcomes for everyone.
Learn more about Shannon Calvert
Learn more about the National Strategy for eating disorders
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We snuck into the annual Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED) conference to illuminate the future of eating disorder diagnosis and care. We recorded on-site at the conference, where we asked various speakers to give us a taste of their research for the sake of all those who’d be interested but couldn’t be there.
Segment 1: Reviewing current treatment approaches
Dr. Anthea Fursland, a distinguished clinical psychologist for the past 40 years, shares a candid perspective on the strides made in treatment, especially for Anorexia Nervosa, but offers insights about the gap between new understandings and legacy approaches to care.Segment 2: NDIS engagement for people with eating disorders
Hilary Smith, a National Manager at the National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC), talks about what may be required and what we still need to know for people with eating disorders to access support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).Segment 3: Body dysmorphic disorder and cosmetic surgery
The point where body dysmorphic disorder and cosmetic surgery intersect is where researcher Dr Toni Pikoos does much of her work. She’s been deeply involved in crafting new, enforceable guidelines to protect the psychological safety of patients.Segment 4: The possibility of laws to protect body image
Marilyn Bromberg is an Associate Professor of Law at UWA and an expert on laws that discourage content researchers understand to negatively impact body image. While there is some precedent in other parts of the world, we can do more in Australia.Segment 5: Dealing with an eating disorders crisis and emergency care
Mental health occupational therapist Genevieve Pepin presented on “Eating disorders, carers, and the emergency department: A recipe for disaster.” It’s a carer’s worst nightmare, and Genevieve tells us just how bad it can get and how we can make the experience less traumatic for families.This is the first of two episodes covering the conference. Look out for Part 2 in October 23.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE ANNUAL ANZAED CONFERENCE
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ANTHEA FURSLAND
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NEDC’S WORK AROUND THE NDIS
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TONI PIKOOS
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MARILYN BROMBERG
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GENEVIEVE PEPIN
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According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-V–also known as the psychiatrist’s bible–there are only four official diagnoses for eating disorders. Though experts expect that number to double in the next edition, the reasons someone might develop or maintain an eating disorder are as variable as the number of people affected.
This is because eating disorders are not just a set of behaviours. They are a way of coping with difficult things.
Psychologist and former Butterfly Helpline Manager, Juliette Thomson, specialises in a person-centred, holistic approach to recovery. “An eating disorder is often the tip of an iceberg,” she says, “Underneath, there is likely a lot more going on for a person about themselves in their lives.”
To help someone struggling with an eating disorder, a therapist will seek to understand their psychological and social reality. That’s why there shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach; people need treatment plans tailored to their own situation. In addition, insists Juliette, you don’t need to be certain that you even want to recover, as a good therapist should support you wherever you’re at.
Listen to Juliette explain why she tells clients that recovery may be the hardest thing they’ll ever do in their life, and why it will also be the most rewarding.
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There’s a medication for almost every illness, and that’s true for mental illnesses,
including eating disorders. But how do they work, and how do they help? We’re
launching our fourth season of Butterfly: Let’s Talk with an investigation into
medications used to treat people with eating disorders, including some brand-new
developments that could offer hope.“Many people with an eating disorder will be prescribed some kind of psychiatric
medication,” says psychiatrist Professor Richard Newton, who has been working in
the sector since the 1980s. “But most of those treatments will be for associated
concerns such as anxiety, depression, poor sleep, hearing voices, obsessive-
compulsive disorder, etc. They’re more adjunct interventions and are not for the
eating disorder itself.”Having suffered from an eating disorder since age 11, Emma has tried
several different prescriptions. “I was first given a psychiatric medication when I
was 14,” she tells us. “It was an antidepressant, and it helped. It showed me that
there was something chemically not quite right.” Later, she was prescribed
antipsychotics, that she says also helped.In this podcast, we talk about psilocybin, the psychedelic chemical associated with
magic mushrooms. "Psychedelic drugs offer an incredible way to access an altered state of consciousness that can change how people think about their behaviour,” says neurologist and researcher Dr Claire Foldi. While psilocybin is still
undergoing clinical trials, she's upbeat about its potential for eating disorders.We also go into depth with Dr Kristi Griffiths, who has studied Vyvanse, a stimulant
traditionally prescribed for ADHD, now being used to treat people with Bulimia
Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. “In one randomized study," she says, "People
who took Vyvance over a set period had around a 4% relapse rate. That's a
pretty low rate.”Listen to our experts and Emma, who believes that she is well into recovery thanks in part to her medications. Perhaps this episode will offer insights for you, your client’s or your loved one’s treatment plan.
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The results from the new Butterfly Body Kind Youth Survey are in, and they’re concerning. More than 1600 young people aged 12-18 took part in the survey, with at least half saying they were dissatisfied with their bodies. About one in three kids say they’re completely dissatisfied with the way that they look.
"The problem is there’s a real cost to young people's body dissatisfaction," says Helen Bird, Butterfly's Education Manager. "A significant number limit their involvement in everyday activities like sports, going to the beach, hanging out with their friends, or going clothes shopping. It’s also impacting their learning. Something like 50% of young people say that their body image has stopped them from putting their hands up in class, focusing on their schoolwork and, for some, even going to school."
In the latest episode of Let’s Talk, our host Sam Ikin talks to Helen, mental health counsellor Stella Ladikos and social worker AJ Williams-Tchen who all work closely with young people and listen to their concerns. He also chats with two high school students who aren’t surprised by the survey results but who make it quite clear that adults and institutions need to be doing a lot more to support them.
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In February this year, ABC dedicated their flagship investigative report, Four Corners, to eating disorders. This was, in part, because of a few Members of Parliament.
The MPs are Teal Independent Zoe Daniel, Liberal Andrew Wallace and Labor’s Susan Templeman. Based on continuous calls for help from their constituents, the three resolved to act for change. To start, they’re co-chairing a new Parliamentary Friends Group for Eating Disorder Awareness to highlight the critical need for more care and support.
“We've been absolutely avalanched in my office by families and people from across the country, saying that it really needs action,” says Zoe Daniel. “And it’s been interesting to have conversations with other MPs. Eating disorders aren't confined to the stereotypical groups.”
Susan Templeman agrees. “I don't think there's an elected office in the country where someone hasn't phoned in at the end of their tether, saying, I don't know what to do. My son or my daughter or my partner is suffering from an eating disorder, and I can't get the help that I need.”
Andrew Wallace was once in a Cabinet meeting where a senior health official assured the Prime Minister that Australia was getting on top of the issue. “I said, sorry, Prime Minister, but I totally disagree with what you've just been told,” he recalls. “We have absolutely no idea how you first suffer from it, why you suffer from it and, importantly, how you best treat it.”
As a carer, Wallace speaks from his own experience, as does Susan Templeman. Eating disorders are mental health issues that do not discriminate. And as more policymakers lean in to educate their political peers, the more hope there will be for real investment in care.
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Many of us remember being teased about our appearance in primary school because it happens - a lot. Perhaps we don’t think about it much now, but chances are the experience has left a mark on who we’ve become. The research is clear: Appearance-based teasing is a key risk factor for a child to develop body dissatisfaction which, in turn, can negatively impact their life outcomes, including their mental health, career, and relationships. Body dissatisfaction is also one of the highest risk factors for eating disorders.
"There's research showing children as young as eight describing their weight and size as a problem because they've experienced appearance-based teasing," says expert researcher Dr Steph Damiano. Appearance-based teasing, which is rife, is also related to more intense disordered attitudes and behaviours around food." To a large degree, this problem is related to cultural stigmas around size and weight, which can be internalised by children as young as three.
"I was always naturally a very low weight and also very tall for my age," says mental health worker Jenna Abbasi, who has lived this firsthand. "I was teased about my size and height, my colour, my teeth, my hair, my nose...I was labelled as the skinniest person in school and a rabbit. It's still very difficult for me not to be self-conscious about my body because the social anxiety from that time has never left."
Psychologist Louise Adams, who counselled clients on body acceptance long before she had her own children, has worked hard to protect them. However, she admits her larger-bodied daughter experienced the full brunt of fat-phobic comments in primary school and still suffers from it.
To address all of this, Butterfly Body Bright was developed in association with experts from La Trobe University to promote body-positive peer environments for younger kids. "The program shifts all of our mindsets," says teacher and pastoral care worker Sarah Price. "We’re not only teaching kids about the impact of what they say to other people but also what they can say to themselves."
"The full program is evidence-based, easy to execute, and comprehensive about developing a positive body image,” says Dr Damiano. Regarding appearance-based teasing, the teachings are all about encouraging children to treat each others' bodies with respect and to stand up for themselves and others in the face of hurtful comments.
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