'Love Island' advertising poses mental health risk, NHS leaders say

Adverts airing during shows such as Love Island are encouraging body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem, top NHS officials claim.

Explicit cosmetic surgery adverts have been broadcast during Love Island breaks, including an ad for TRANSFORM Breast Surgery.

The national mental health director for NHS England, Claire Murdoch, is urging the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to consider whether they are doing enough regarding mental health.

According to The Telegraph, in a formal letter to Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Murdoch writes:

“Not only are there clear risks associated with cosmetic surgery, but placed alongside the body image pressures that can be inherent in many online and social media interactions, adverts such as these could pose a risk to mental health. The challenge is particularly acute among children and teenagers.”

This follows NHS chief executive of England Simon Stevens comments to BBC’s Andrew Marr show on July 1st when he openly criticised the cosmetic surgery ads shown during Love Island.

“We have to look at the increasing pressures on young people, there are lots of eating disorders now. We have to think about the whole environment they are exposed to. If you take a show like Love Island, look at the adverts shown alongside it, there are explicit ads aimed at young women around breast, cosmetic surgery.”

Marr also argued that the Love Island contestants own cosmetic surgery encourages unrealistic body expectations:

“A number of Love Island’s contestants have had extensive plastic surgery, and critics have said it is creating “unrealistic” standards for young people.”

“The time has come to think long and hard to see if we should be exposing young people to those kinds of pressures. Social media and advertising has to look very carefully at the kind of impact it is having,” Marr added.

Meanwhile a survey by Youth Charity YMCA has found that 62% of teenagers feel pressure to look ‘perfect’ on social media. The survey of 1,000 British young people aged 11-16 also found that 58% blamed image pressure on celebrities picture perfect images on social media. YMCA England & Wales has launched a #IPledgeToBeReal campaign in response.

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