Prevalence and Impacts of Body Shaming on Social Media among University Students in Bangladesh

Body shaming is a social disease that has spread to different segments of society. It has been constantly growing in the hands of the media, especially social media and the commercial world.

Objective: The objectives of the study are to examine the prevalence and impacts of social media on body shaming faced by university students in Bangladesh.

Methodology: This study followed the quantitative research methodology to conduct the research. It was from 08 June 2024 to 14 June 2024, when the researcher collected the data through an online survey consisting of 35 questions. A total of 477 students participated in the study; the target population was formed with part of the students at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur.

Results: The study found that 66.45% of the students were faced with body shaming, and 42.76% of these happened through social media. Female students reported a higher prevalence of body shaming (37.11%) than that of male students (29.14%), with an odds ratio of 1.493, indicating that females were almost 1.5 times more likely to experience body shaming. Most of the students were body shamed for their body shape and weight. Students perceive that bullying tendency, lack of understanding, jealousy, and low self-confidence are the major causes of body shaming. According to the research, the impacts of body shaming are multifaceted in most of the students; with issues such as emotional distress (47.59%), body anxiety or dissatisfaction (40.25%), depression and inferiority (39.62%) coming up as a high rate of result. Alarmingly, 10.27% of students reported noticing suicidal tendencies in themselves due to body shaming. Female students generally reported higher rates of negative impacts compared to male students across most categories.

Conclusion: There is an urgent requirement for awareness campaigns and legal actions to be taken against body shaming on social media. Educational institutions should also implement awareness programs for the younger generation to make them aware of the negative consequences of body shaming.