THE EMBRACE HUB
A powerful partnership promoting positive body image.
DR ZALI YAGER
Body Confident Collective
TARYN BRUMFITT
Body Image Movement
We are excited to announce a new partnership between the Body Confident Collective and the Body Image Movement to bring you The Embrace Hub!
By working together, we can combine the very latest science and research on this topic with the power to communicate these tools in engaging ways to a large audience.
ABOUT
The Embrace Hub is a dedicated website that will provide creative, interactive, and engaging online resources to equip teachers, coaches, community leaders and parents to promote positive body image.
This will fast become known as the ‘one stop shop’ for all things body image and link to other highly effective and evidence-based programs and resources.
OUR WHY
We are passionate about creating a safer body image environment for our kids ...
and this is urgently needed because:
BODY DISSATISFACTION IS COMMON
77% of adolescents report body image distress (1), and recent Australian data shows that more than 40% of 12-14 year old boys and girls experienced moderate or clinically significant body dissatisfaction (2).
Body image is consistently ranked in the top three issues of personal Concern in the Mission Australia Youth Survey (3).
HATING OR BODIES LEADS TO POOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES
Body dissatisfaction leads to
Increased mental health issues including
depression and anxiety (2,4),
increased eating disorders (5,6)
Negative physical health outcomes including
lower diet quality (5,7)
less likely to engage in physical activity (5,7)
increased BMI (5,7)
Increased Risky Behaviours including:
High risk drinking behaviours (4),
Recreational Drug use (4,8)
Smoking (9,10,11),
Use of steroids and weight gain supplements (8,12),
Early initial age of first sexual intercourse (13),
Self-harm (10,14), and
Lower academic engagement (15).
"adolescents with clinically significant body dissatisfaction were 24 times more likely to also report possible-, probable-, or major depressive episodes”
(McLean et al., 2021)
OUR APPROACH
Innovative
We bring together the latest evidence with powerful, creative mechanisms of communication, informed by design thinking and co-design to develop and disseminate resources that respond to people's needs, and change people's body image- and their lives.
Evidence-based
The past 30 years of scientific research have shed a lot of light on the theory behind body image concerns, and the approaches that can be used to promote body confidence. Everything we develop is informed by past evidence, and tested to ensure that it is safe and effective.
Positive
Many early attempts to build body image have focussed on risk factors and on explaining the nature of the problem that can raise awareness of body image issues, but not improve attitudes and behaviour. Our approach centres around the latest evidence that supports new positively framed approaches- including self-compassion, a focus on body functionality, and promoting physical activity and embodiment, that mean that we can improve body image by building protective factors rather than teaching about risk factors.
Responsive
iI can take 8-10 years for researchers to secure funding, conduct pilot research, and then the gold-standard Randomised Controlled Trials [RCT’s] that are required to prove that interventions are safe and effective. We don’t want kids to have to wait 10 years to have access to these interventions. We are creating a new model where we use the best evidence to design the interventions, and evaluate them as they are disseminated to ensure they are safe and effective.
We need to be careful...
In the month after Lady Gaga revealed her eating disorder, internet searches for pro-anorexia websites increased by 52%. Although the intent of her statements was to caution young people against disordered eating, this had an inadvertent effect of young people seeking more damaging content online. (16)
In order to ensure that young people have access to information and resources that are safe and effective, we will:
- engage with experts who are able to translate the latest evidence into practice
- seek funding for, and partner with universities to evaluate programs and resources
- develop strict criteria that must be met in order to promote external resources on the hub
- advocate against the use of resources that may cause harm.
WHY WE NEED THE EMBRACE HUB
Creating Social Impact
PROMOTING BODY CONFIDENCE IS GOOD FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
Promoting body acceptance is not promoting poor health. The past 20 years of ‘obesity’ related work have been largely based on making people feel shame and blame about their bodies. This not been effective in reducing weight status.Promoting body image can improve depression/anxiety, and improve weight concerns.
THERE IS NO EXISTING CENTRAL LOCATION FOR RESOURCES
Programs are scattered, hard to find, and not google-able.
Some available resources and providers are not based on evidence of what is effective in this space.
We need to bring all of the high quality resources together and communicate their availability to the parents, teachers, sports coaches and organisations that need this information.
THIS IS A BIG ISSUE THAT SLIPS THROUGH THE CRACKS
Everyone we talk to tells us that this work is important- and we obviously think it is important.
But we are unable to gain funding for this as we don’t fit neatly into mental or physical health granting priorities
There are no other funding sources available for this work- we’ve tried!
WHAT WE NEED FUNDS FOR
With the right support, we can offer all resources on The Embrace Hub
HUB RESOURCES
Funds will be used to develop creative, engaging resources for young people that can be implemented in homes, schools, sports clubs and community settings.
We won't recreate the wheel. We know exactly what is out there, and what is missing. We will focus on developing creative and engaging resources. Our innovative, positive, evidence-informed approach and capacity to reach large audiences mean we can get these effective resources out fast.
EVALUATION
Evidence is at the heart of everything we do. Our partnerships with universities and researchers ensure that we can get the highest level of evidence to support the efficacy of the resources on The Embrace Hub.
ADVOCACY
Our approach to coordinated advocacy means that we can activate our 300+ ambassadors and champions to create grassroots impact and change throughout individual, community, organisational and societal levels through change to policy and practice.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Contribute to our Mission.
MAKE A DONATION
As a registered health promotion charity with DGR1 status, we would love to talk about how your donation could contribute to The Embrace Hub.
Donations up to $10000 can be contributed through Paypal Donations using the button below.
Email us to arrange a meeting or to make large transfers directly: hello@theembracehub.com
REFERENCE LIST
Milton, A., Hambleton, A., Roberts, A., Davenport, T., Flego, A., Burns, J., & Hickie, I. (2021). Body Image Distress and Its Associations From an International Sample of Men and Women Across the Adult Life Span: Web-Based Survey Study. JMIR Formative Research, 5(11), e25329.
McLean, S. A., Rodgers, R. F., Slater, A., Jarman, H. K., Gordon, C. S., & Paxton, S. J. (2021). Clinically significant body dissatisfaction: prevalence and association with depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1-12.
Mission Australia Youth Survey. (2020). https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/what-we-do/research-impact-policy-advocacy/youth-survey
Bornioli, A., Lewis-Smith, H., Slater, A., & Bray, I. (2021). Body dissatisfaction predicts the onset of depression among adolescent females and males: a prospective study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 75(4), 343-348.
Bucchianeri, M. M., Arikian, A. J., Hannan, P. J., Eisenberg, M. E., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2013). Body dissatisfaction from adolescence to young adulthood: Findings from a 10-year longitudinal study. Body image, 10(1), 1-7.
Stice, E., & Van Ryzin, M. J. (2019). A prospective test of the temporal sequencing of risk factor emergence in the dual pathway model of eating disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(2), 119.
Neumark-Sztainer, D., Paxton, S. J., Hannan, P. J., Haines, J., & Story, M. (2006). Does body satisfaction matter? Five-year longitudinal associations between body satisfaction and health behaviors in adolescent females and males. Journal of adolescent health, 39(2), 244-251.
Kanayama, G., Barry, S., Hudson, J. I., & Pope Jr, MD, MPH, H. G. (2006). Body image and attitudes toward male roles in anabolic-androgenic steroid users. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 697-703.
Amos, A., & Bostock, Y. (2007). Young people, smoking and gender—a qualitative exploration. Health education research, 22(6), 770-781.
Bornioli, A., Lewis-Smith, H., Smith, A., Slater, A., & Bray, I. (2019). Adolescent body dissatisfaction and disordered eating: Predictors of later risky health behaviours. Social Science & Medicine, 238, 112458.
Stice, E., & Shaw, H. (2003). Prospective relations of body image, eating, and affective disturbances to smoking onset in adolescent girls: How Virginia slims. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 71(1), 129.
Yager, Z., & McLean, S. (2020). Muscle building supplement use in Australian adolescent boys: relationships with body image, weight lifting, and sports engagement. BMC pediatrics, 20(1), 1-9.
Kvalem, I. L., von Soest, T., Træen, B., & Singsaas, K. (2011). Body evaluation and coital onset: A population-based longitudinal study. Body image, 8(2), 110-118.
Muehlenkamp, J. J., & Brausch, A. M. (2012). Body image as a mediator of non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents. Journal of adolescence, 35(1), 1-9.
Atkinson, M. J., & Diedrichs, P. C. (2021). Assessing the impact of body image concerns on functioning across life domains: Development and validation of the Body Image Life Disengagement Questionnaire (BILD-Q) among British adolescents. Body Image, 37, 63-73.
Lewis, S. P., Klauninger, L., & Marcincinova, I. (2016). Pro-eating disorder search patterns: the possible influence of celebrity eating disorder stories in the media. Journal of eating disorders, 4(1), 1-5.