08/24/2026
“I’m getting fat, Mom.”
“I’m so scrawny.”
“Look at the rolls on my stomach when I sit down.”
“My face is too fat.”
“I’m too short. I hate being so short.”
I have a teen son and a teen daughter, and these quotes aren’t from my girl. They are from my son.
He is a handsome boy who is incredibly athletic and active in many sports. If you saw him, you’d think he was in great shape, but he is a perfectionist and that hardline thinking is damaging and dangerous to any kid.
He picks apart all the things he feels are imperfect about him, and although he isn’t consumed by it all, it’s clear he is not at peace with his body either. He has yet to hit puberty, which is a difficult reality to live next to his friends who have begun the drastic changes of adolescence.
Our kids face a myriad of issues as their bodies hit puberty. Sometimes their development occurs rapidly, while other times, the changes happen so slowly, they wonder when their bodies will catch up with the rest of their peers. As they enter adolescence, they can become insecure, constantly comparing themselves with other kids and scrutinizing how they look.
Children’s opinions of their bodies form at a very young age. While much attention has been focused on body image issues with growing girls, we rarely hear about our boys experiencing the same problems.
Boys often act differently than girls when it comes to body image.
They may seem tough and less worried about their appearance on the outside, but they can be just as insecure about their physical features and have low self-esteem underneath their detached exterior. They have the same inner voice that criticizes everything they don’t like about themselves, and they have the relentless desire to be perfect too.
While our kids face many new issues as they grow up, often their appearance is at the center of it all. As children get older, they soon realize there are physical aspects about themselves that they like and other aspects they don’t. They are beginning the journey of discovering who they are, and how they look is a critical piece of their identity.
The problem for most kids is that they are sensitized into thinking they need to look perfect to fit in. We can thank our current culture and media for that. They are growing up as the “Selfie Generation” because they are constantly exposed to filtered perfect images while scrolling on their phones every day.
They are obsessed with presenting similar unblemished photos to keep up with the masses and for some, they’ll do anything to look as perfect as they possibly can. But no matter how hard they try, they constantly feel defeated and discouraged because they are attempting to reach an unobtainable goal.
Read on below.
