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One In Five Primary School Girls 'On A Diet'

The body confidence of young girls deteriorates rapidly as they progress through school, according to new research.

New figures from the Government Equalities Office show that one in five primary school age girls say they have been on a diet, while 87% of girls aged 11-21 think that women are judged more on their appearance than on their ability.

Poor body image among girls has also been associated with low participation in sport.

The research shows that 23% of girls aged 7-21 don't participate in exercise because they are unhappy with their body image, and 48% of girls think getting sweaty from taking part in sports is unfeminine.

There is also new insight into the long-term consequences of poor body image among young girls, which is associated with lower confidence, lower aspirations and lower social participation.

One in six GCSE students have avoided going to school because they feel bad about their appearance.

The research comes after a £10m advertising campaign showing active women, prompted by concerns about schoolgirls not participating in sports because they are worried about how their body looks.

Government agency Sport England's "This Girl Can" campaign has now gone viral, with more than 7 million hits worldwide but the Government says more needs to be done.

Equalities Minister Jo Swinson says: "We have got the advertising industry to think again about the types of images they show, about how much retouching is appropriate - working with retailers, guidance for teachers, national citizenship service, youth groups.

"We absolutely need to make sure that children have resilience to deal with the world around them. But we also need to look at the unrealistic imagery that's there."

There is also concern that other public campaigns to tackle childhood obesity may have had unintended consequences, actually increasing pressure on young girls over their bodies.

"There are constantly new trends in terms of diets and there is very confusing nutritional information linked to the obesity issue - but dealing with one problem can lead to a secondary problem," says Kat Pugh, who suffered from eating disorders throughout her secondary school years and works with eating disorder charity B-EAT.

"The anti-obesity drive is providing a very confusing message. We've been through a period of time when it was in vogue to ban all fats, and ban all fats in a very negative way. We've been through a phase where salt was very bad and now it's sugar.

"Children and now teenagers who have been through that phase are growing up not actually knowing. We need to go back a few steps and think about things scientifically."