Research by the University of Bristol has found that “the presence of the opposite sex may inflate appearance concerns and lower self-esteem” among teenage girls.
As concern grows about society’s obsession with losing weight and the resulting impact on young women, academics from the university’s Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences set out to research the impact that different school environments have on teenage girls’ confidence and self-worth.
The researchers asked more than 200 girls aged between 13 and 15 about their attitudes to weight and body image.
Half of the girls were pupils at a single sex school in West Sussex and half were students at a co-ed school in the same area. The two schools were similar in terms of socioeconomic background and both required pupils to wear uniform.
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