Bringing body confidence education to US schools

Dear Friend,

Today’s young people spend more than eight hours each day on their phones and computers. They compare their appearance to edited and filtered images of people they see on their social media sites.  77% of adolescents report “body image distress,” feeling dissatisfied with their own appearance. We know from the research that having a negative perception of their own bodies leads to serious mental health consequences such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.

BE REAL creates resources to help young people with their body image. We have evidence-based workshops for adults and curricula for youth that are designed to help children develop a healthy relationship to food and their bodies. 

BE REAL has so far had a great year. Thanks to generous donations, we’ve been able to make 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 so everyone can access them. 

Here are some of the projects we are currently working on:

• BE REAL is making a significant impact at health conferences nationwide. Denise has introduced BodyKind to thousands of health educators, teachers, and school representatives. In 2024 alone, BE REAL has presented at the SHAPE National Convention, SOPHE Annual Conference, ICED Conference, Arizona Department of Health Services Disordered Eating Prevention Public Health Training Series, and New York State BOCES Eating Disorder Prevention Conference. BE REAL will continue to attend and present at more conferences throughout 2024.
• The BE REAL Ambassador program has exploded. We have over 100 ambassadors on board and more recruits in the pipeline. We've made our Ambassador program FREE for non-profits, teachers, and governmental agencies in 2024, thanks to a generous donation from an incredible BE REAL sponsor!
• Let’s Eat! is being Pilot Tested this Summer. Our latest curriculum Let’s Eat! introduces brand-new middle school and high school lessons focusing on the latest research and insights from top experts in the field of nutrition. We have partnered with Ramsey County, Minnesota’s Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) initiative. 
• The BodyKind team recently published an article in the Body Image Journal, detailing BE REAL's Irish cultural adaptation of BodyKind. We are committed to delivering sustainable and scalable programs to schools worldwide. Here are our other, recent articles on BodyKind high school body image curriculum in leading academic journals: (1) Body Image Journal and (2) BMC Public Health. We continue to test BodyKind. 

Thank you for your past support at GlobalGiving. We could use your help now more than ever to create Body Confident Schools everywhere!

Confidently yours,

Denise Hamburger

Executive Director of BE REAL