Body Image Statistics

On this page, you’ll find…

11 Eye-Opening Body Image Statistics

5 Bible Verses About Body Image

Body Image
Statistics:

  • Americans had 11 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2006 – up 7%. (1)
  • More than half of teenage girls are, or think they should be, on diets. They want to lose some or all of the 40 pounds that females naturally gain between ages 8 and 14. About 3% of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic. (2)
  • The Medical Journal of Psychiatry conducted a general population study on men with eating disorders and found that 2% of men, compared to 4.8% of women, have anorexia or bulimia. (3)
  • The average American woman is 5’4″ tall and weighs 140 pounds, while the average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women. (4)
  • 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance. (5)
  • Female athletes are six times more likely to develop eating disorders than other women. (6)
  • 80% of women say that the images of women on television and in movies, fashion magazines, and advertising makes them feel insecure. (7)
  • 42% of girls and first through third grades want to be thinner. (8)
  • 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. (9)
  • Without treatment, up to 20% of people with serious eating disorders die. With treatment, that number falls to 2 to 3%.(10)
  • The average woman spends 2 1/2 years of her life washing, styling, cutting, coloring, cramping, and straightening her hair at home and in the salon. (11)

Looking for More?

If these statistics hit home with you, check out the book Compared to Who? by Heather Creekmore.

5 Bible Verses About Body Image and Some Eye-Opening Body Image Statistics

What Does the Bible Have to Say About Body Image?

5 Bible Verses About Body Image

Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Psalms 139:14-16“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Do you believe true beauty is more than skin deep?

More Help for Teen Girls

Shelley and Heather have written a book specifically for teen girls — and this book could change your life or the life of a teen girl you know… 

Find Out More
Body Image Statistic References
  1. Plasticsurgery.org/media/press_releases/2006-Stats-Overall-Release.cfm (last accessed February 2017)
  2. ANRED anorexia nervosa and related eating disorders, http://www.anred.com/stats.html.
  3. Kimberly Shearer Palmer, “Colleges Start to Realize Men Need Body Image Help Too,” USA today, May 10, 2001, 15 A.
  4. “The prevalence of eating disorders.” From NEDA. https://www.healthywithin.com/stats.htm
  5. Ibid.
  6. “Coaching the Coaches,” Psychology Today (March/April 1992), 10.
  7. “Searching for the perfect body.” www.people.aol.com/people/000904/magstories/index.html, posted August 25, 2000.
  8. www.kidzworld.comsite/p.3155.htm
  9. Ibid.
  10. Ibid.
  11. “Women spend two-and-a-half years on their hair.”www.dailymail.com.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=402793&in_page_id=1770.