Education United States Project #52283

Anti-bias body image curriculum for high schools

by Be Real USA NFP

Project Report | Jul 3, 2023
Summer 2023

By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL

Dear Friend,

Today’s young people are spending more than eight each day on their phones and computers. They have ample opportunity to compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites. It is not surprising that 77% of adolescents report “body image distress,” feeling dissatisfied with their own appearance. We know that having a negative perception of their bodies leads to serious mental health consequences such as eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.

BE REAL is committed to spreading body confidence resources to young people. We have evidence-based workshops for adults and curricula for youth that are designed to help children develop a healthy relationship to food and their body.

We are proud to announce the completion and successful testing of BE REAL's BodyKind program. Here are some notable highlights of BodyKind:

Be Real’s BodyKind high school, body image curriculum is now available. It is ready to be used by teachers across the country. We are testing this curriculum in Ireland the fall of 2023 in 37 schools. We are working with school systems and eating disorder non-profits in Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Minnesota on bringing Body Confident Schools to their communities.
BodyKind’s reach is expanding to other countries. We have received significant interest in developing cultural adaptations of BodyKind from: Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Israel.
BodyKind's influence is expanding to middle schoolers and college students. We are currently developing a curriculum on How to Eat based on Intuitive Eating principles for middle schoolers and high schoolers. We have a version of BodyKind coming out for middle school and college student activity groups.

Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to develop and expand BodyKind’s reach!

Confidently yours,

Denise Hamburger

Executive Director of BE REAL

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Jan 16, 2023
Winter 2023

By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL

Dear Friend,

Today’s young people are spending about eight and a half hours a day on their phones and computers. Studies show this gives them ample time to compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites. It is not surprising that upwards of 70% of adolescent girls and 45% of adolescent boys are dissatisfied with their appearance. We know that having a negative perception of their bodies can lead to serious mental health consequences such as developing eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.

BE REAL is committed to spreading body confidence resources to young people. We have workshops for adults and youth curricula designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

We are proud to report that our high school curriculum, Be Real’s BodyKind is now completed. These are our accomplishments and future plans with the curriculum:

We finalized pilot testing of Be Real’s BodyKind our high school body image curriculum. Our results showed that 72% of students felt taking part in the lessons was important for young people.
BodyKind is now being distributed to high schools across the country. We're doing a “slow release” of BodyKind to teachers who are willing to help us collect further data in a randomized control trial by teaching BodyKind and surveying their students.
Our draft article on our feasibility and acceptability pilot test at Brooklyn Center Community High School in Minneapolis is almost ready for submission to academic journals.
We're in discussions about sponsoring the curriculum with a number of corporations and interested organizations.

Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to distribute BodyKind to high schools all over the country!

Confidently yours,

Denise Hamburger

Executive Director of BE REAL

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Sep 14, 2022
Summer/Fall 2022

By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL

Dear Friend,

Today’s young people are spending about eight and a half hours a day on their phones and computers. Studies show this gives them ample time to compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites. It is not surprising that upwards of 70% of adolescent girls and 45% of adolescent boys are dissatisfied with their appearance. We know that having a negative perception of their bodies can then lead to serious mental health consequences such as developing eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.

BE REAL is committed to spreading body confidence resources to young people. We have workshops for adults and curricula for youth that are designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

We are proud to report that our high school curriculum, Be Real’s BodyKind has finished its pilot phase. These are the highlights:

We brought together a team of body image academics, psychologists, and teachers from Ireland, Australia, and the University of North Carolina to create Be Real’s BodyKind body image curriculum for high school students.
Workshops and presentations were showcased across the US in preparation for the study. We delivered BodyKind to over 75 students and 10 teachers to get their feedback
We finalized pilot testing of Be Real’s BodyKind our high school body image curriculum, in Brooklyn Center Community High School in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Our results showed that students found the lessons important, relevant to their lives, enjoyable, and effective.
Educating educators about Be Real’s BodyKind at education conferences all over the country. Be Real has been selected to present the curriculum BodyKind and its findings at the SOPHE 2022 Annual Advocacy Summit in October 2022. I am the keynote speaker at Quad Cities Eating Disorder Conference.

Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to distribute BodyKind to high schools all over the country!

Confidently yours,

Denise Hamburger

Executive Director of BE REAL

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