社交媒體影響青少年身體自信

Social media impacts teen body confidence

社交媒體影響青少年身體自信

The teenage years are never easy to navigate, but for today's youngsters, it's a minefield, made all the worse by social media. Pictures of perfect bodies are creating anxiety and insecurity in a way we've never seen before, so much so that a third of teenagers confess to being ashamed of their bodies.

引導青少年並不容易，引導這個時代的年輕人更是困難，社交媒體使這一形勢更爲糟糕。完美身材的照片帶來了前所未有的焦慮和不安全感，以至於三分之一的青少年承認：他們對自己的身體感到羞恥。

This is a real cause for concern because body image and anxiety can trigger self-harm and suicidal thoughts in teenagers. Experts are calling for vetting of weight loss and cosmetic surgery ads and for social media firms to do more.

這是值得大家關注的，因爲身體形象和焦慮會導致青少年產生自我傷害和自殺的念頭。專家大力呼籲對減肥和整容廣告進行審查，並呼籲社交媒體公司採取更多措施。

The survey of 1,118 UK teenagers by the Mental Health Foundation found 31% of 13 to 19-year-olds feel ashamed of their body shape and 35% had stopped eating or were eating less. "Our survey has shown that millions of young people in Britain are worrying about their body image," said Jane Caro, the foundation's programme lead.

心理健康基金會對1118位英國青少年展開的調查發現：13至19歲的人中，31%的人對自己的身體感到羞恥，35%的人爲此不再進食或吃的更少。“我們的調查顯示：英國數百萬年輕人都在擔心自己的身體形象，”該基金會的項目負責人簡·卡羅（Jane Caro）說道。

"Worries about body image can lead to mental health problems and, in some instances, are linked to self-harm and suicidal thoughts and feelings." Furthermore, two in five said pictures on social media had made them worry about their body. One in three teens worried about their body almost every day, 37% felt upset and ashamed about it.

“擔心身體形象會導致心理健康問題，在某些情況下，與自我傷害和自殺念頭相關。”此外，五分之二的人表示，社交媒體上的照片讓他們爲自己的身體發愁。三分之一的青少年幾乎每天都爲自己的身體感到發愁，37%的人爲自己的身體感到沮喪、羞恥。

The MHF has said: "Exposure to idealised bodies in the media and social media provides significant risk of this." The number of teenagers, especially girls, needing hospital treatment after trying to kill themselves has grown alarmingly during the last 10 years.

心理健康基金會表示：“媒體和社交媒體呈現的理想身材是造成這一現象的主要原因。”過去十年，青少年（尤其是姑娘）試圖自殺而後被送往醫院救治的數量驚人地增加。

Emma Thomas of Young Minds believes regularly seeing images of so-called perfect bodies can worsen the anxieties that young people have about how they look. Claire Murdoch, director for mental health at NHS England, wants social media firms to pay a levy to help fund mental healthcare for the under-18s.

Young Minds機構的艾瑪·托馬斯（Emma Thomas）認爲，經常看到所謂的完美身材的照片會加劇年輕人對外表的焦慮。英國國民健康醫療體系的心理健康主任克萊爾·默多克（Claire Murdoch）希望社交媒體公司可以爲18歲以下的少年提供精神保健服務。

"We know that appearance is one of the things that matters most to young people," she says. "These concerning findings not only lay bare the scale of the problem, but also clearly point to where teenagers say the blame should lie."

“我們知道，大多數年輕人都十分看重外貌，”她說道。“這些令人擔憂的發現不僅暴露了問題的嚴重程度，而且還清楚地指出了誰該爲這一問題負責。”