Recommendation 2

We recommend that the Department of Health and Social Care, along with the National Institute for Health Research, commission and fund new research to understand the causal pathways that are leading to a rise in body image dissatisfaction across the population and the impact of social media on body image. This is of particular importance in relation to groups that are known to be particularly affected by body image dissatisfaction: for example, adolescents, people with disabilities and LGBT people. However, it is also vital for groups in relation to which the understanding of body image dissatisfaction is less clear, such as those from BAME communities and older people. (Paragraph 31) Impact of body image on health and lifestyle