This may come as a bit of a surprise when you read this. Anorexia nervosa has the highest

death rate of all mental health conditions. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. It was a surprise

to us too.

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For the eighth year in a row, young Australians have rated body image issues as one of the top

four concerns in Mission Australia’s National Youth survey. The 2019 survey found that at least

1 in 4 young people have serious body image concerns.

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Body image was recorded as one of the top four personal concerns for 33.5 per cent of young

people when it comes to their mental health. Notably higher proportions of females (42.8%

compared with 14.5% of males) were extremely or very concerned about body image.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females reported body image as the second most

concerning personal issue, ahead of mental health.

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Do you need any more proof as to why it’s a good idea to have the conversation with your kids?