6-year-olds anxious about weight

Body image related issues are becoming a cause of concern for children as young as 6, a new study has revealed. Of 2,000 adults questioned by researchers, 13 per cent said that they first had concerns over their body while at primary school. Such worries are apparently triggered by skinny celebrities and adverts featuring unrealistic bodies as well as by children comparing themselves with friends. According to the researchers, 52 per cent worried over their weight before the age of 21. The key stages of this insecurity were played out in teenage years (27 per cent) and then again as a young adult just starting out in a career (25 per cent), the Daily Express reported. "If body image issues like this occur at an early age, inevitably this will play out in adulthood," Mandy Cassidy, the psychological director for LighterLife, the weight management company which commissioned the study, said. "This can change the way a person behaves around food, which, although it is assumed to lead to under-eating, can also lead to over-eating," Cassidy added.