News

A pack to help parents educate children on how the media alters images and to inspire them to be confident in their bodies has had government backing.

Developed for six to 11-year-olds by not-for-profit organisation Media Smart, the pack contains before and after touched-up images of celebrities such as Britney Spears. It also looks at how ideas of the "perfect" body have changed. The government said it wanted the pack to "empower parents".

The body image parent pack can be downloaded for free and gives tips to parents on how to talk to children about the subject of body images and stresses the notion that there is no such thing as the so-called perfect body.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said it was an important contribution to the government's campaign to boost body confidence among children.

It comes after a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on body image heard evidence that more than half of the public suffer from a negative body image. The group is calling for all school children to take part in compulsory body image and self-esteem lessons.