Project Report
| Jan 16, 2023
Winter 2023
By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL
Dear Friend,
Today’s young people are spending about eight and a half hours a day on their phones and computers. Studies show this gives them ample time to compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites. It is not surprising that upwards of 70% of adolescent girls and 45% of adolescent boys are dissatisfied with their appearance. We know that having a negative perception of their bodies can lead to serious mental health consequences such as developing eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.
BE REAL is committed to spreading body confidence resources to young people. We have workshops for adults and youth curricula designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.
We are proud to report that our high school curriculum, Be Real’s BodyKind is now completed. These are our accomplishments and future plans with the curriculum:
- We finalized pilot testing of Be Real’s BodyKind our high school body image curriculum. Our results showed that 72% of students felt taking part in the lessons was important for young people.
- BodyKind is now being distributed to high schools across the country. We're doing a “slow release” of BodyKind to teachers who are willing to help us collect further data in a randomized control trial by teaching BodyKind and surveying their students.
- Our draft article on our feasibility and acceptability pilot test at Brooklyn Center Community High School in Minneapolis is almost ready for submission to academic journals.
- We're in discussions about sponsoring the curriculum with a number of corporations and interested organizations.
Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to distribute BodyKind to high schools all over the country!
Confidently yours,
Denise Hamburger
Executive Director of BE REAL
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Sep 14, 2022
Summer/Fall 2022
By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL
Dear Friend,
Today’s young people are spending about eight and a half hours a day on their phones and computers. Studies show this gives them ample time to compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites. It is not surprising that upwards of 70% of adolescent girls and 45% of adolescent boys are dissatisfied with their appearance. We know that having a negative perception of their bodies can then lead to serious mental health consequences such as developing eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.
BE REAL is committed to spreading body confidence resources to young people. We have workshops for adults and curricula for youth that are designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.
We are proud to report that our high school curriculum, Be Real’s BodyKind has finished its pilot phase. These are the highlights:
- We brought together a team of body image academics, psychologists, and teachers from Ireland, Australia, and the University of North Carolina to create Be Real’s BodyKind body image curriculum for high school students.
- Workshops and presentations were showcased across the US in preparation for the study. We delivered BodyKind to over 75 students and 10 teachers to get their feedback
- We finalized pilot testing of Be Real’s BodyKind our high school body image curriculum, in Brooklyn Center Community High School in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Our results showed that students found the lessons important, relevant to their lives, enjoyable, and effective.
- Educating educators about Be Real’s BodyKind at education conferences all over the country. Be Real has been selected to present the curriculum BodyKind and its findings at the SOPHE 2022 Annual Advocacy Summit in October 2022. I am the keynote speaker at Quad Cities Eating Disorder Conference.
Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to distribute BodyKind to high schools all over the country!
Confidently yours,
Denise Hamburger
Executive Director of BE REAL
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May 16, 2022
Spring 2022
By Denise Hamburger | Executive Director of BE REAL
Dear Friend,
Children today spend so much of their time on social media, where they are constantly comparing their appearance to others’ highly-edited pictures. This has created a culture where 70% of adolescent girls and 40% of adolescent boys don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. For adolescents, having a negative perception of their body can then lead to more serious consequences such as eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.
BE REAL addresses these mental health issues by spreading free, evidence-based body confidence resources to schools across the country. Our curriculum and workshops are designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.
We are proud to report that our high school curriculum, Be Real’s BodyKind has just finished its pilot phase. These are the highlights:
- We brought together a team of body image academics, psychologists, and teachers from Ireland, Australia, and the University of North Carolina to create Be Real’s BodyKind body image curriculum for high school students.
- Be Real student interns researched the body image problems people suffer due to “appearance bias” based on a person's race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, body size, ability, and socioeconomic status.
- Workshops and presentations were showcased across the US in preparation for the study. We delivered BodyKind to over 75 students and 10 teachers to get their feedback before we took it to Brooklyn Center Community High School.
- BodyKind in Brooklyn Center Community High School in Minnesota. We are finishing our pilot study this month. We delivered all four lessons and surveyed 150 students before and after the lessons.
Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. Please consider supporting us again in 2022!
Confidently yours,
Denise Hamburger
Executive Director of BE REAL
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