Clare Daly
Question:23. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to develop strategies that improve self-esteem and promote positive body imaging among young adolescents. [7273/13]
View answerWednesday, 13 February 2013
Questions (23)
Written answers
Self esteem and body image are key concerns for young people. The "Report of a Survey on Young People's Body Image" which I launched in 2012, marked an important milestone in giving young people a voice on this very important issue for them. This survey was carried out directly on foot of a key recommendation from Dáil na nÓg 2010, a representative forum for young people which is overseen by my Department.
At the Dáil na nÓg 2010 assembly, the delegates considered the importance of body image to teenagers' mental health. Noting the lack of national data on teenagers' body image, they decided that this was an issue worth researching. The survey was completed by 2,156 young people and gives new insights into how teenagers perceive themselves in an area of critical importance to their mental health. The Survey found that body image is a burning issue for young people in Ireland with 77% of participants ranking body image as important to them. 57% of the young people surveyed expressed some level of satisfaction with their body image which means 43% were dissatisfied.
The promotion of self esteem and a positive body image in young people is a complex issue requiring inputs from a wide range of stake-holders including parents, schools, the media, commercial organisations and the Health Service Executive (HSE) through its Health Promotion Programmes. My Department supports the National Youth Health Programme which is a partnership between my Department, the National Youth Council of Ireland and the HSE. The programme aims to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion / education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in out-of-school settings.
This work is achieved through the development of programmes and interventions specifically for and with youth organisations throughout the country and the provision of training support for workers and volunteers who implement these programmes. The issue of self esteem and body image is addressed as part of a holistic approach to health. It is covered under the Mindout Mental Health Promotion training and resource pack delivered to youth organisations. The training is based on the resource Mindout which was developed by Health Promotion HSE West and NUI Galway. Mindout is a twelve session mental health programme which takes a positive approach to the promotion of emotional and mental health among young people, looking at the ways they cope, ranging from personal coping skills to informal networks of support to professional or voluntary support services. Mindout adopts a universal mental health promotion approach which has strong links with the "Support for all" element of the recent guidelines on Mental Health Promotion for Schools published by the HSE, Department of Education and Skills and the National Office for Suicide Prevention.
The National Youth Health Programme also offers a Specialist Certificate in Youth Health Promotion. This programme is accredited by NUI Galway and adopts a whole organisational approach to health promotion. It focuses on a holistic model of an individual's health and youth work as a valuable setting for health promotion. Further actions naturally extend beyond the remit of my Department. My Department is currently leading the preparation of a new Children and Young People's Policy Framework which will represent a whole of Government approach to addressing issues affecting children and young people including their well-being.