Bringing body confidence education to US schools

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.

BE REAL has had a productive year so far. Your donations have made it possible for more students, teachers, and parents to have access to our resources. We will continue to use this funding to keep these resources free for those who need them. 

Some of the projects we are currently working on include: 

• 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.
• Spreading our Body Confident Schools (BCS) workshop around the country via our Be Real Ambassador program. We are working with eating disorder non-profits in Georgia, Iowa, and Minnesota on bringing Body Confident Schools to their communities. Our strategies include giving free webinars to educators as well as training non-profit staff to deliver our BCS workshop.
• We have given our BCS workshop 100 times to over 2000 educators!

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

Dear Friend,

Children today spend an excessive amount of their time on social media where they are constantly comparing their own bodies to edited images. This environment has created a culture where 70% of adolescent girls and 45% of adolescent boys don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Having this perception of their body can then lead to more serious consequences such as developing eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.

BE REAL is dedicated to eradicating this problem and committed to spreading body confidence across the world. Our curriculums are designed to teach children how to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

We are proud to report that BE REAL has had a very productive start to the year. Your donations have made it possible for more students, teachers, and parents, to have access to our resources, and we will continue to use this funding to aid in the development of our BE REAL BodyKind curriculum for high school students. 

Some of the projects we are currently working on include: 

• Working with a team of academics from Ireland, Australia, and the University of North Carolina to create Be Real’s BodyKind body image curriculum for high school students. We are currently testing our curriculum in Brooklyn Center Community Schools in Minnesota. This pilot study will help us understand how effective the curriculum is and what adjustments need to be made to reach a broader audience. The next step will be to share the curriculum nationwide and globally. 
•  Expanding our Ambassador Program. We strongly believe that the best way to change perspectives is through broad outreach. We have an innovative new approach to training Ambassadors to spread body confidence with our tested materials. 

• Spreading our Body Confident Schools (BCS) workshop around the country. We are working with eating disorder non-profits in Georgia, Iowa, and Minnesota on bringing Body Confident Schools to their communities. We have different strategies for different states. These strategies include giving free webinars to educators as well as training non-profit staff to deliver the workshop.

1. We have given our BCS Workshop 100 times to over 2000 educators
2.  I’ve spoken at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, the Center for Disease Control, Choate Hall, and Amazon.

• 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

Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. Please consider supporting us again in 2022!

Confidently yours,

Denise Hamburger

Executive Director of BE REAL