Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image

Women and Equalities Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 26 Mar 2020 Closed: 4 Nov 2021 Parliament page
Awareness of the impact of advertising and media consumption on people’s body image has increased in recent years. Negative body image is widely perceived as solely a young women’s problem. But more recently, research has shown that this is a wider issue: Recent studies report that over a third of … Read more
17 Recommendations
1 Report
5 Oral sessions
7 Letters
5 Events
Activity timeline 14 events
23 Jun
2021
Report published
22 Jun
2021
Correspondence
17 May
2021
Correspondence
11 May
2021
Correspondence
9 Apr
2021
Report published
27 Jan
2021
Oral evidence
16 Dec
2020
Oral evidence
2 Dec
2020
Oral evidence
3 Nov
2020
Correspondence
3 Nov
2020
Correspondence
2 Nov
2020
Correspondence
22 Oct
2020
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
27 Jan 2021
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Caroline Dinenage MP · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Mark Griffin · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries MP · Department for Health and Social Care Zoe Seager · Department of Health and Social Care
16 Dec 2020
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Alexandra Evans · TikTok Henry Turnball · Snap Inc Richard Earley · Facebook Inc
2 Dec 2020
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Caroline O'Neill · L’Oréal Paris (UK) Chris Macleod · Transport for London Kate Dale · Sport England Kelly Byrne · Nasty Gal, boohoo group Malcolm Phillips · Advertising Standards Authority Sophie Van Ettinger · Dove
21 Oct 2020
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Cassianne Anonymous · Lived Experience Catherine Deakin · Changing Faces Danny Bowman · Lived Experience Dr Antonis Kousoulis · Mental Health Foundation Dr Marc Bush · YoungMinds Kate Roberts · Lived Experience Tatyana Anonymous · Lived Experience Zoe Palmer · Girlguiding UK
23 Sep 2020
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Dr Amy Slater · Centre for Appearance Research Dr Francesca Solmi · University College London Professor Clare Chambers · Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixth Report: Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body… HC 274 9 Apr 2021 17 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
2 results
Clear
5 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Sixth Report: Changing the perfect…
The current Obesity Strategy is at best ineffective and at worst perpetuating unhealthy behaviours.
The current Obesity Strategy is at best ineffective and at worst perpetuating unhealthy behaviours. It is likely to be dangerous for those with negative body image, including those at risk of developing eating disorders. In the short term, we have … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges concerns about calorie labelling and eating disorders, but will not scrap the policy. Instead, they have exempted schools and will allow businesses to provide calorie-free menus upon customer request, committing to a review within 5 years.
Government Equalities Office
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7 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Sixth Report: Changing the perfect…
Encouraging positive body image during childhood and adolescence must be a priority.
Encouraging positive body image during childhood and adolescence must be a priority. We commend the Government for introducing body image into the RSHE curriculum last year and hope this creates an opportunity for schools to address the concerns young people … Read more
Government Response
The government states the RSHE curriculum, which includes content on body image, is compulsory and will be inspected by Ofsted. They commit to undertaking quantitative and qualitative research to understand perceptions and delivery of RSHE, which will inform its impact on pupil wellbeing, but do not explicitly commit to exploring additional policy initiatives for a whole-school approach beyond the existing curriculum's support.
Government Equalities Office
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Government Response AI assessment · 17 of 17 classified
Accepted 10
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 1
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 1
Total 17 recs
Correspondence 7 letters
22 Jun 2021 Correspondence from the Director of Media Smart UK to the Chair relating to their educational resource on body image and mental well-being
Parliament page
17 May 2021 Correspondence from the Equality and Human Rights Commission to the Chair relating to the Committee’s inquiry into ‘Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image.’
Parliament page
11 May 2021 Correspondence from the Steering Group of the Obesity Health Alliance to the Chair relating to the Committee’s inquiry into ‘Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image’
Parliament page
3 Nov 2020 Correspondence from Yound Minds to the Chair regarding body image inquiry
Parliament page
3 Nov 2020 Correspondence from the Mental Health Foundation to the Chair regaridng body image inquiry
Parliament page
2 Nov 2020 Correspondence from Changing Faces to the Chair regarding body image inquiry
Parliament page
22 Oct 2020 Correspondence from Girlguiding to the Chair regarding body image inquiry
Parliament page