Activist calls for body image education
Sunday 17 March 2013
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EmailA union activist has called for action on promoting healthy body images, as young women are under increasing pressure to "look like porn stars."
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers' (ATL) Helen Porter warned it is "deplorable" that teenagers desire unattainable body types.
Ms Porter is due to propose two motions at the ATL's annual conference next week calling for action on promoting healthy body images and the effect of pornography on pupils.
She has urged her union to back a new all-party parliamentary campaign on body image to help educate children about healthy body types.
She said: "Girls and boys are viewing more pornographic images.
"The boys are seeing these porn stars and saying: 'I'd like to have a girlfriend that looks like that'."
Ms Porter, who is also teacher at St Gabriel's School in Newbury, Berkshire, suggested that girls begin to feel the pressure around the age of 13 and 14.
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