Business

Body Confidence in Sports

Body confidence is how a person feels about the way they look, accept and happy with the body’s appearance and performance.

Shanoli Ray, Principal SJPS, WB;  Honorary Advisor SPAA, INDIA in conversation with Prittle Prattle News

Body confidence significantly correlates with sports participation as well as encourages sports participation.

What is body confidence?

Body confidence is how a person feels about the way they look, accept and happy with the body’s appearance and performance. It includes body shape, physical strength, health and other dimensions and the degree of self-awareness and self-esteem.

How does sports affect body confidence?

Participating in sports encourages healthy body, proper nutrition and balance lifestyle. These positive factors can lead to stronger endurance, longer ability to practice and perform, boost confidence as well as improved mental health condition including inter personal relationship and personal social adaptation. 

Research has found that personal satisfaction with body image correlates with participation in sports. The higher the degree of participation in sports, the more positive the body confidence is, which ultimately leads to increased self-esteem and self-efficacy.
Sport might be one of the best ways to help develop the sense of body confidence as the strength, skills and stamina increase through training, one might feel more confident in their ability as they see them visibly improve. The confidence comes from knowing one’s body and mind are in the best condition, can resist toughest negativity. It’s certainly a marker for success.

How does sports affect female body confidence?

Body image issues should not have a place in sports but it stops many women from getting involved. Female body image and its associated woes are contributing factors preventing a large number of women participating in sports. They fear that public and the media would value their appearance over their talents. But the ones choose to participate in sports, are highlighted as inspirational, focused, achieving, unselfconscious and unburdened by social norms.  Sport is one of the greatest opportunities for women to escape the constantly negative body confidence and embrace the eat-sweat-play mentality.

What is the impact of sports in the body image of children?

In general, sports can be awesome for children. It builds both inner and outer strength to the kids. The experiences intertwined with sports teach them to value what their bodies allow them to do from an early age and encourage to accept themselves unconditionally. Sport can be a wonderful outlet for the children to move away from stress and anxiety and helps keep life in perspective.

Flipside?

Every coin has two sides. Hence, there’s always a flipside. There may be detrimental effects when it comes to the pressure and expectations reflected by society, coaches, teammates or family. The phenomena are not just about performance only, but also maintenance of an athlete’s body shape depending on sports type. Again, expectation filter down to how one should fuel their body.  Not all recommendations are healthy neither safe for that matter. Athletes are in a unique spot when it comes to the development of a negative or distorted body image as well as disordered eating habits. All sports can carry some level of risk that can promote body weight concerns. 
Whatever may be the challenges implied by society and the performance environment, that shouldn’t restrict one to participate and enjoy the multi benefits of sports and remind of what bodies allow us to do regardless of weight, shape or size!!

This article was shared with Prittle Prattle News as a Press Release by PRNewswire.

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