Before girls and boys go through puberty they have quite similar bodies.  Some key things that happen in puberty include:

• Girls grow breasts and their hips widen
• Boys get broader shoulders, slimmer trunks, and start to grow facial hair
• Girls and boys grow body hair
• Girls and boys often get spots on their face and shoulders (a condition called acne)

In teenage years it is very normal to feel self-conscious about your appearance.  You spend more time thinking about your body image in teenage years than when you were younger and get more interested in what other people think of you too.  You start to compare your body image against how you view others.  This is normal and important part of growing up

It can be hard to know if you are having normal worries about your appearance or if you are having more of a tough time with it.  Everybody is different. It is very normal to dislike certain parts of the body, want to get into better shape and spend time making yourself look good (e.g. haircuts, makeup, buying new clothes).   

Answering the following questions can help you figure out if you might have a problem with your body image:

If you answered no to these questions, the chances are you don’t have a body image problem.  If you answered yes to these questions then you might find it helpful to go to the next section.

Problems with body image are quite common and seem to be getting more common with the introduction of social media (Instagram and the Selfie culture).