'I never felt like I was good enough': Panel of young people open up about poor body image as part of government inquiry

Poor body image is on the rise, but what is contributing to it and can anything be done? Sarah Young reflects on the powerful experiences of young people as part of a new government inquiry

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“Scrolling through images on social media platforms had a really detrimental effect on the way I saw my body. I started to scrutinise the way I looked and, unfortunately, I reached a critical crisis and developed body dysmorphia.” These are the words of Danny Bowman, a 25-year-old man who, earlier today, gave evidence in a government inquiry into negative body image.

Danny was joined by three other young panellists – Tatyana, Kate and Cassiane – who each opened up about their personal experiences to a group of MPs leading an official investigation into what can be done to prevent young people feeling negatively about the way they look.  

The inquiry, titled “Changing the perfect picture”, was launched by the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee earlier this year, and aims to discover what causes poor body image as well as how it is impacted by companies, adverts, social media and even government policy.