Eating Disorders and Body Image - Issues affecting LGBTQ Young People
Children and young people are increasingly under pressure to conform and as part of Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire’s recent Eating Disorder survey, which gathered the views of over 2,000 young people in Northamptonshire, we decided to hold a focus group session with young people who attend the OUT THERE LGBTQ youth group at The Lowdown.
We were keen to find out if there were any particular body image issues for this group of young people and what information about eating disorders and body image they thought should be available for the young LGBTQ community.
Healthwatch spoke to nearly 20 young people and gave them an opportunity to think about their own body image along with pressures and concerns they had. The session was interactive and information was provided in confidence.
A range of things were mentioned, including:
- Society, social pressures and expectations
- Mental health issues and illnesses, body image, self-esteem, need to control something
- Bullying, peer pressure
- Upbringing, genetics
- Changes in personal life, bereavement
