Why investing in girls’ self-esteem is crucial to improving their overall wellbeing

Co-authored by Mohini Raichura-Brown

For International Day of the Girl 2024, we are proud to celebrate the achievements of 联合国儿童基金会 ’s partnership with the Dove Self Esteem Project, which is being expanded to bring self-esteem resources to 16.4 million more young people in India.??

The partnership, which began in 2019, aims to empower children and adolescents to protect themselves from low body-confidence and build self-esteem so they can reach their full potential. In India, our partnership has already reached 7.2 million young people with our self-esteem-based life-skills programme, 65% of whom were girls. The roll out of our ‘Who Am I?’ lesson toolkit includes a series of comic books that address common self-esteem and body-image pressures people face in India, all emblazoned with the comics’ slogan ‘LLDB: Ladka Ladki Dono Barabar’- ‘Boys and girls are both equal’. On a partnership visit to a UNICEF supported school in Rajasthan last year, the Dove Self-Esteem Project team were encouraged to see so many boys and girls proudly proclaiming this important catchphrase.?

The new phase of our partnership comes at a time when globally, about one in seven adolescents is living with a mental health condition[1]. Mental health, body image and self-esteem are intrinsically linked. Poor mental health can lead to low self-esteem, whilst having low self-esteem can itself result in poor mental health[2]. Research suggests that dissatisfaction with body-image is strongly related to poor mental health outcomes among adolescents[3]. While body-image concerns can affect anyone, regardless of gender, studies suggest that girls are much more likely to be dissatisfied with their body-image than boys[4].??

Low body confidence is having real impacts on girls’ lives.? For example, low body confidence contributes to 8 in 10 girls opting out of important life activities, 7 in 10 putting their health at risk by not going to see a doctor when they need to, and 7 in 10 not voicing their opinion or speaking out for social injustice[5]?

Whilst girls and young women face such intense pressure on their self-esteem, their confidence to succeed in other areas of their lives is also under threat. Self-esteem is often linked to more positive attitudes towards school[6], giving girls the mental fortitude to rise to meet academic and social challenges. In Dove’s own most-recent research study, The Real State of Beauty: A Global Report, results found that more than 3 in 5 girls (63%) have not felt confident at school because they do not feel good about the way they look.?

The effects of low self-esteem do not end when girls become women. According to Dove ’s latest research, almost 2 in 5 women would give up a year or more of their lives if they could achieve their ideal appearance or body size. Shockingly, 1 in 5 women would even go as far as giving up five years of their life, if it would mean conforming to society’s definition of beauty. 20% of women told Dove they would be willing to give up their dream job if it would mean achieving their ideal appearance.?

If girls missing opportunities in their education and careers was not bad enough, low self-esteem has been cited as a risk factor in damaging behaviours like self-harm[7], the third leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged 15-19 worldwide[8].??

The picture is clear: more must be done to ensure that girls are supported to improve their self-esteem and body confidence.??

The next phase of our partnership will see the Dove Self Esteem project integrated further with 联合国儿童基金会 ’s life skills programme. UNICEF will provide access to learning content designed to address the self-esteem concerns of young people aged 11- 14 in eight states across India. Working with State Governments, UNICEF will make the content available through in-person trainings, Government e-learning platform Diksha , other state learning management systems and the Passport to Earning digital platform. To expand the programme's reach, a UNICEF campaign will encourage parents, siblings and teachers to support this older cohort of girls, and their male peers, to become self-esteem champions.?

Whilst the picture may seem bleak, UNICEF’s own data[9] indicates that adolescent girls still remain hopeful about the future. In more than 30 countries, 80% or more girls aged 15-19 believe that life will get better in the next year. If like-minded organizations commit to invest in programmes to support the development of girls' self-esteem and body confidence, we have the opportunity to prove the next generation right.??

?References:

1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health ?

2 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and United Nations Children’s Fund, On My Mind: How adolescents experience and perceive mental health around the world, JHU and UNICEF, Baltimore and New York, May 2022?

3 van den Berg PA, Mond J, Eisenberg M, Ackard D, Neumark-Sztainer D. The link between body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in adolescents: similarities across gender, age, weight status, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. J Adolesc Health. 2010 Sep;47(3):290-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.02.004. Epub 2010 May 4. PMID: 20708569; PMCID: PMC2923488.?

4 Delfabbro PH, Winefield AH, Anderson S, Hammarstrom A, Winefield H. Body image and psychological well-being in adolescents: The relationship between gender and school type. J Genet Psychol. 2011 Jan 25;172(1):67–83.;Kenny U, Sullivan L, Callaghan M, Molcho M, Kelly C. The relationship between cyberbullying and friendship dynamics on adolescent body dissatisfaction: A cross-sectional study. J Health Psychol. 2018 Mar 5;23(4):629–39.???

5 The Real State of Beauty: a global report, Dove, 2024?

6 Sensoy Bahar O, Byansi W, Nartey PB, Ibrahim A, Boateng A, Kumbelim K, Nabunya P, McKay MM, Ssewamala FM. Self-esteem and self-concept as correlates of life satisfaction and attitudes toward school among Ghanaian girls. J Res Adolesc. 2024 Mar;34(1):185-191. doi: 10.1111/jora.12910. Epub 2024 Jan 11. PMID: 38205871; PMCID: PMC11114458.?

7 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-psychologists-and-counsellors-in-schools/article/selfharm-behaviour-in-adolescents-body-image-and-selfesteem/2EFA88A3516BB08FEAB783C76FFBD89E ?

8 https://data.unicef.org/topic/gender/overview/ ?

9 https://mics.unicef.org/ ?

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