Former GP and now Conservative MP, Dr Luke Evans, hopes his new Bill can help tackle the growing numbers of people struggling with eating disorders and body confidence issues, in part due to social media exposure.
Dr Evans’ Bill calls for commercial images featuring digitally-altered bodies to include a logo with the aim of being “honest and upfront” about edited images and encouraging a healthier culture around body image. If passed, the Bill would mean that advertisers, broadcasters and publishers, as well as influencers being paid to post on social media, would have to include the disclaimer on all edited images.
The MP for Bosworth told MPs that people were “caught up in the arms race for the perfect selfie, impacting their mental health” when he introduced the Digitally Altered Body Image Bill last week.
The proposals come amid widespread concern about the rise in eating disorders and body confidence problems, particularly during the pandemic. NHS Digital Data shows that there was an increase of 41 per cent in hospitalisations for eating disorders among under-17s from April to October 2021 (compared with the same period during 2020), while a government inquiry into body image last year found that worries about how people look “start younger, last longer and affect more people than ever before.”
According to research from the Mental Health Foundation, one in five adults and one in three teenagers feel shame about their body, with nearly 20 per cent of adults feeling disgusted about their body image. One in four young people aged 18-24 said they felt so stressed by body image and appearance that they had felt overwhelmed or unable to cope, while one in eight young people said they had edited pictures of themselves to change their face or body shape in the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Girlguiding Girls’ Attitude Survey 2020 found that 51 per cent of seven to ten-year-old girls feel “very happy” with how they look, but by the age of 11-16 when most girls start to use social media, this percentage had dropped significantly to just 16 per cent.
This lack of body confidence and the effect of social media are things Dr Evans saw borne out in his former role as a GP. “When I was a GP, particularly young women with eating disorders would talk about the fact that they’re driven by these images and think they need to have a perfect physique,” Dr Evans told Sky News. “You started seeing it from men, often talented sportsmen who wanted to get bigger and look buff on the beach... I’m concerned that people are trying to respond to an image that they can never actually get to.”
The eating disorder charity, Beat, has seen a 300 per cent increase in demand for its support services over the pandemic and welcomed the Bill as it raises awareness about unrealistic body standards.
“Whilst social media would not be the sole cause of an eating disorder developing, from the people we support, we know that pressures to look a certain way can lower self-esteem and confidence,” Tom Quinn from Beat told Sky News. “Being exposed to unrealistic body shapes and sizes online can also serve as ‘inspiration’ to engage in eating disorder behaviours and become more unwell.”
Dr Antonis Kousoulis, director for England and Wales at the Mental Health Foundation, also welcomed the discussion prompted by the Bill. “The MP’s concerns about the impact of image editing on young people’s mental health are well founded. There are many pressures on young people and adults to look ‘perfect’ and our own research shows that image editing apps are negatively impacting the wellbeing of millions.”
If you are struggling with your mental health, you can find sources of local support on this website.
