The document discusses research showing that girls' self-esteem typically peaks at age 9 and then declines dramatically as they reach adolescence. By ages 12-13, only 56% of girls say they like their looks compared to 75% at ages 8-9. Half of girls report being on diets by age 9 and 80% of eighth grade girls say they are dieting. Low self-esteem in girls is linked to a variety of negative behaviors and outcomes including eating disorders, cutting, smoking, drinking, violent behavior, school dropout, teen pregnancy, and low academic achievement. Religious affiliation and communication with parents are associated with higher self-esteem in girls.

1. “Girls’ self-esteem peaks when they are
9 years old, then takes a nose dive,”
clinical psychologist, Robin F.
Goodman, writes on the New York
University Child Study Center Web site.

2. Seventy-five percent of 8 and 9 year-
olds said they liked their looks; that
figure dropped to 56 percent among
girls ages 12 and 13.

3. At age nine, at least half of all girls
report having been on a diet. Eighty
percent of eighth grade girls say they
are on diets.

4. Seven million girls and women who
have eating disorders, compared with 1
million boys and men, ten percent
report onset at 10 years or younger; 33
percent ages 11 to 15.

5. Twenty percent College-aged women in
America are bulimic.

6. Girls who watch TV commercials
featuring underweight models lose
self-confidence and become more
dissatisfied with their own bodies
(SOURCE: Dove Campaign, “Dove
Campaign for Real Beauty to Help
Foster Self-Esteem in Girls”.

7. One-third of all girls in grades nine to
12 think they are overweight, and 60
percent are trying to lose weight.
(Quoting the Girl Scout Research
Institute, 2002-2004).

8. 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not
good enough or don’t measure up in
some way, including their looks,
performance in school and
relationships with friends and family
members.

9. Across the nation, 50% of young girls
are engaged in negative activities like
cutting themselves, or starving
themselves because of self-esteem and
image issues.

10. 62% Girls are insecure about
themselves

11. 75% of girls with low self-esteem
report engaging in negative activities
such as eating disorders, cutting,
smoking, drinking when feeling bad
about themselves.

12. 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem
purposefully injure or cut themselves.

13. 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem
have eating disorders (starving,
refusing to eat, overeating, throwing
up, bulimia).

14. Girls with low self-esteem less likely to
receive praise from parents but more
criticism.

15. 34% of girls with low-self esteem feel
they are not good enough of a
daughter.

16. 57% of girls have mothers who
criticizes her looks .

17. 57% of girls don’t tell mothers things
about them because of they don’t want
them to think bad of them

18. About 20 percent of teens will
experience depression before they
reach adulthood.

19. Teen girls that have a negative view of
themselves are four times more likely
to take part in activities with boys that
they’ve ended up regretting later.

20. The top wish among all teen girls is for
their parents to communicate better
with them. This includes frequent and
more open conversations.

21. Girls with a high self-esteem are three
times more likely to delay sexual
intercourse than girls with low self-
esteem.
Source:http://www.medicine.indiana.e
du/iu_medicine/02_fall/teenSex.html

22. Low self-esteem has been linked to
violent behavior, school dropout rates,
teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low
academic achievement.
Source: Alexandra Delis-Abrams, Ph.D.
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/A
brams1.html

23. The World Health Organization (WHO)
in a worldwide research reports that
more deaths are caused by suicide
every year than homicide or war.
Source: Alexandra Delis-Abrams, Ph.D.
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/A
brams1.html

24. Low self-esteem is the universal
common denominator among literally
all people suffering from addictions to
any and all mind altering substances
such as alcohol, not genes.

25. In a study carried out among some
female students, 80% of them claimed
that their negative body image was
linked to the negative remarks made by
friends and family.
Source: http://selfesteem-
activities.com/statistics-on-self-esteem

26. A survey carried out by Yong Dai, Ph.D., Rebecca F. Nolan, Ph.D., and
Qing Zeng, Ph.D. revealed that adolescents who attended church or
other religious institutions are more likely to have a higher self esteem
than their peers who have no religious affiliation. It suggests that
religious institutions play a part in teaching people how to have a
positive self esteem and have a healthy view of themselves.

27. Hayes and Fors (1990) report that lower self esteem is often the
reason why young girls engage in premarital sexual relationships and
is more likely to be responsible for teen pregnancies than any other
single factor. They found that as self-esteem decreases, sexual
attitudes and behavior become more permissive.

28. 77 Percent of Girls Consider
Themselves Ugly