Social media impacts teen body confidence

社交媒体影响青少年身体自信

The teenage years are never easy to navigate¹, but for today's youngsters, it's a minefield, made all the worse by social media. Pictures of perfect bodies are creating anxiety and insecurity in a way we've never seen before, so much so that a third of teenagers confess to being ashamed of their bodies.

引导青少年并不容易，引导这个时代的年轻人更是困难，社交媒体使这一形势更为糟糕。完美身材的照片带来了前所未有的焦虑和不安全感，以至于三分之一的青少年承认：他们对自己的身体感到羞耻。

This is a real cause for concern because body image and anxiety can trigger self-harm and suicidal thoughts in teenagers. Experts are calling for vetting² of weight loss and cosmetic³ surgery ads and for social media firms to do more.

这是值得大家关注的，因为身体形象和焦虑会导致青少年产生自我伤害和自杀的念头。专家大力呼吁对减肥和整容广告进行审查，并呼吁社交媒体公司采取更多措施。

The survey of 1,118 UK teenagers by the Mental Health Foundation found 31% of 13 to 19-year-olds feel ashamed of their body shape and 35% had stopped eating or were eating less. "Our survey has shown that millions of young people in Britain are worrying about their body image," said Jane Caro, the foundation's programme lead.

心理健康基金会对1118位英国青少年展开的调查发现：13至19岁的人中，31%的人对自己的身体感到羞耻，35%的人为此不再进食或吃的更少。“我们的调查显示：英国数百万年轻人都在担心自己的身体形象，”该基金会的项目负责人简·卡罗（Jane Caro）说道。

"Worries about body image can lead to mental health problems and, in some instances, are linked to self-harm and suicidal thoughts and feelings." Furthermore, two in five said pictures on social media had made them worry about their body. One in three teens worried about their body almost every day, 37% felt upset and ashamed about it.

“担心身体形象会导致心理健康问题，在某些情况下，与自我伤害和自杀念头相关。”此外，五分之二的人表示，社交媒体上的照片让他们为自己的身体发愁。三分之一的青少年几乎每天都为自己的身体感到发愁，37%的人为自己的身体感到沮丧、羞耻。

The MHF has said: "Exposure to idealised bodies in the media and social media provides significant risk of this." The number of teenagers, especially girls, needing hospital treatment after trying to kill themselves has grown alarmingly during the last 10 years.

心理健康基金会表示：“媒体和社交媒体呈现的理想身材是造成这一现象的主要原因。”过去十年，青少年（尤其是姑娘）试图自杀而后被送往医院救治的数量惊人地增加。

Emma Thomas of Young Minds believes regularly seeing images of so-called perfect bodies can worsen the anxieties that young people have about how they look. Claire Murdoch, director for mental health at NHS England, wants social media firms to pay a levy⁴ to help fund mental healthcare for the under-18s.

Young Minds机构的艾玛·托马斯（Emma Thomas）认为，经常看到所谓的完美身材的照片会加剧年轻人对外表的焦虑。英国国民健康医疗体系的心理健康主任克莱尔·默多克（Claire Murdoch）希望社交媒体公司可以为18岁以下的少年提供精神保健服务。

"We know that appearance is one of the things that matters most to young people," she says. "These concerning findings not only lay bare the scale of the problem, but also clearly point to where teenagers say the blame should lie."“我们知道，大多数年轻人都十分看重外貌，”她说道。“这些令人担忧的发现不仅暴露了问题的严重程度，而且还清楚地指出了谁该为这一问题负责。”