The Body Confidence Book - by Phillippa Diedrichs (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this groundbreaking book for teens, research psychologist Professor Phillippa Diedrichs empowers us to respect our bodies and disrupt the harmful societal pressures we experience every day. By age 15, 60% of us lack body confidence. It's now seen as normal to grow up feeling unhappy with our bodies. But it doesn't have to be this way. From filtered faces and dangerous body expectations on social media, to the pressures put on us by friends and family, our bodies have been through enough. The time is now to rally against these outdated ideals and create communities that celebrate the diversity of our bodies. Through science and storytelling, Professor Diedrichs breaks down key topics such as toxic social media content, the value of diverse role models, health and body image and expressing yourself through your looks. Providing you with the information, positivity, and encouragement to accept and respect yourself, this book will give you the power to challenge appearance stereotypes and feel at home in your body."--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

In this groundbreaking book for teens, research psychologist Professor Phillippa Diedrichs empowers us to respect our bodies and disrupt the harmful societal pressures we experience every day.

*2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 Book List*

By age 15, 60% of us lack body confidence. It's now seen as normal to grow up feeling unhappy with our bodies. But it doesn't have to be this way. From filtered faces and dangerous body expectations on social media, to the pressures put on us by friends and family, our bodies have been through enough. The time is now to rally against these outdated ideals and create communities that celebrate the diversity of our bodies.

Through science and storytelling, Professor Diedrichs breaks down key topics such as toxic social media content, the value of diverse role models, health and body image and expressing yourself through your looks. Providing you with the information, positivity, and encouragement to accept and respect yourself, this book will give you the power to challenge appearance stereotypes and feel at home in your body.

The Body Confidence Book is not only empowering and inspiring, it is practical. At the end of every chapter, there are simple tasks to help you put into practice the topics covered, including body appreciation mirror exercises and curating your social media feed.

Illustrated in a bold and inclusive style by Naomi Wilkinson, this is the book you need to help you be body confident and make the world around you more accepting of everyone, regardless of who they are or how they look. Because every body is beautiful and every body deserves to be respected.

Review Quotes

"This frank and honest book will reassure readers that it's okay to love and respect their bodies as they are"

--Sharon Rawlins, Booklist

"Learn to accept and have confidence in your body thanks to the advice from psychologist Diedrichs, who shares information on how to recognise stereotypes and rally against outdated ideas about how bodies should look."

--The Bookseller

About the Author

Professor Phillippa Diedrichs is a research psychologist and body image and mental health expert. She is passionate about creating environments that accept diversity in appearance, and support people to live free from the constraint of body image concerns. At the world leading Center for Appearance Research, she leads a team investigating psychological and social influences on body image. Her research has featured in the New York Times, BBC, Time, Forbes, and teaching case studies at Harvard's Business School and School of Public Health. Phillippa regularly works with brands like Instagram, UNICEF, Nike, Cartoon Network, and Girl Scouts to promote appearance diversity in the media. She was born in New Zealand, grew up in Australia, and now lives in Bristol, UK.

Naomi Wilkinson grew up in a small Victorian seaside town and now lives in Bristol, UK with her partner, daughter, and dog. She spends hours obsessing over color combinations and creating her illustrations, which are inspired by vintage children's books, lovely packaging, and folk art.