Body shaming occurs every day in the teenage community as a subcategory to bullying.

Call someone fat? Just one word can affect an individual for life.

According to J.K. Rowling, “Is fat really the worst thing a human being can be? Is fat worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, boring, evil, or cruel? Not to me.”

Body shaming is happening everywhere, even in NHS. Is it okay that some teens are more scared of gaining weight than of cancer, losing parents or even nuclear war? According to recent research, 78 percent of teen-age girls are unhappy about their bodies and 3 out of 10 girls have an eating disorder. In the same survey, 42 percent of children in grades 1-3 are worried about their body size. A 6-year-old child should not be worried about his weight.  He should be playing outside.

Even boys are affected in body shaming. Most people do not think about eating disorders in boys but 1 in 10 boys have an eating disorder. Anorexia and Bulimia can cause serious health problems like kidney failure, brittle easy to break bones, irregular heartbeat, heart failure and death. Eating disorders prevent your body from getting its nutrients. If concerned about eating, tell a trusted adult and get help.

As musician Cristian Aguilera stresses, “You are beautiful no matter what they say.”

Even more shocking, 15 percent of women ages 18-24 thought that photoshopped images are what real women look like. When I asked what skinny was and what fat was this is what both genders said. To girls skinny is 120 pounds for a freshman and 160 for a senior. They responded that anywhere between 120 and 160 pounds is skinny and the boys said that for sophomores and juniors 130 pounds is skinny. Girls responded that 170-180 pounds is fat for high school students and boys responded that around 150 pounds is fat.

Is this right?

Fat and skinny are labels. Do not take these labels seriously.   So next time think before speaking. Be careful.  Words can be the turning point in someone’s life. The word “fat” can cause someone pain. If observe teasing and body shaming, tell the person to knock it off. It is not okay and he or she needs to stop. Everybody is perfect and do not let anyone say otherwise. Love yourself.  Body shaming is not okay. Think before you speak. Be careful and love you for you.

“When you judge people by their appearance it doesn’t define them, it defines you” ~Dr. Steve Maraboli.