More than 70 percent of Taiwanese teenagers are unhappy with their body image, and the average teen uses social media for 4.2 hours a day, the Child Welfare League Foundation said yesterday, calling on parents to help their children with a “digital detox.”
Children can be overexposed to social media as it is updated around the clock, and it eats into the family time children need, the foundation told a news conference in Taipei at which it shared the results of an online survey it commissioned on junior and senior-high school students.
Of the respondents, 57 percent said they touch up their photos before uploading them to social media, while 45 percent said they edit out what they perceive to be specific flaws and 39 percent said they felt insecure about sharing pictures.
Photo courtesy of the Child Welfare League Foundation
Heavy users of social media feel significantly more anxiety, with nearly 67 touching up their social media pictures and 27 percent editing out specific “flaws” in their features, the foundation said.
Social media is linked to body image anxiety, as 42 percent of heavy users said they use filters on their selfies, up 11 percentage points from the average of 31 percent, it said.
Of the respondents, 58 percent said they thought they should gain or lose weight and 14 percent said they have considered cosmetic surgery, the foundation said.
Girls are more likely to feel insecure about their bodies than boys, it said.
In nearly 95 percent of the 12,320 valid responses received, the teens said they were social media users, the foundation said, adding that girls are more likely to feel insecure about their bodies than boys.
The foundation called on parents to help reduce their children’s social media and Internet consumption, encourage them to take part in other activities and assist them with self-appreciation exercises, the foundation said.
For resources and support, parents can call the foundation’s hotline at 0800-532-880, while teens can call 0800-001-769, it said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS