What is body image?
Body image describes our idea of how our body looks and how we think it is perceived by others. This can include our thoughts and feelings about our height, weight, shape, skin, colour and our appearance.
During our Living and Learning session this week, Year 4 discussed connections between advertising and body image.
We thought about how advertising can be creative and filled with ideas that come alive with drama, excitement and humour. However, this commercial messaging can have a negative impact on how we see ourselves.
Should we compare ourselves to what we see in advertisements?
No because we are all different.
No one looks the same.
It is important that pupils are media literate to help them to better understand advertising and its influences on sensitive subjects such as body image
Each week, the latest edition of the ‘First News’ newspaper is enjoyed by lots of classes across school. This child friendly paper is a great resource for exploring UK and international news stories.
The paper covers politics to entertainment, sports to science and everything in between. Year 4 regularly enjoy reading the latest stories. This valuable resource provides the children with an accessible way to understand the world. It enriches their wordly knowledge, encourages curiosity and builds confidence in sharing ideas and opinions.
This week , Year 4 shared an article that linked well to out Living and Learning focus: body image.
A young girl from Norfolk, featured in a stunning photo exhibition about a rare skin condition.
She said: “I know I look different to other children but my birthmark has never really bothered me, it’s just a small part of who I am.
The photo series, called, How Do You C Me Now?, promotes the message ‘love the skin you’re in’ and is a celebration of difference. The children had discussions with each other about this story. Following that, we all shared our thoughts together. 
She has a beautiful face.
It doesn’t matter what you look like. It is ‘what’s inside’ that is important.
We shouldn’t make judgements.
We then discussed possible reasons for the girl in the picture to want to take part in an exibition.
To show people that body image shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of.
She is brave and wants to celebrate differences.
Maybe she has been bullied about the way she looks.
The girl isn’t worried about how she looks. More people should be aware.
She may have to deal with negative comments from strangers or children at school.
She isn’t embarrassed about looking different. She wants to celebrate it.