THE DOVE SELF-ESTEEM PROJECT CALLS FOR ACTION TO ADDRESS YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CAUSED BY SOCIAL MEDIA
To make systemic change, the Dove Self-Esteem Project is supporting the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH) and its Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario network on a virtual program to increase early intervention and inclusive access to care.
TORONTO, April 26, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Dove Self-Esteem Project announces new actions to address the current rise in youth mental health issues linked to social media use. While social media can be a powerful source of creativity and self-expression, it is also harming the mental health of more than half of Canadian kids.1 Presently, social media is primarily left to self-regulation for youth and their guardians, and studies show its inherent link to negative youth mental wellness outcomes. In fact, NEW 2023 Dove Self-Esteem Project Research shows 8 in 10 youth mental health specialists say social media is fueling a mental health crisis.
Additional statistics from the NEW 2023 Dove Self-Esteem Project Research found:
- 80% of young people believe that people their age are addicted to social media
- 50% of young people say social media makes them and their peers feel anxious
- 65 % of young people (ages 10-17) have been exposed to content encouraging weight loss/body transformation on social media
- 70% of young people in Canada say social media can make young people want to change their appearance
- 44% of young people (ages 14-17) have been exposed to content encouraging restricted eating or disordered eating behaviours
- Over half of youth mental health specialists say exposure to harmful beauty content on social media can lead to physical consequences like disordered eating or self-harm
"Dove has a long-term commitment to bringing positive change in beauty and taking action towards making social media a more positive place with campaigns like #NoDigitalDistortion, Reverse Selfie/Selfie Talk, and #DetoxYourFeed. While certain aspects of social media can promote creativity and connection for young people, data has shown toxic content online is harming the mental health of today's youth. If there isn't real change, young people will continue to pay with their wellbeing." explains Alessandro Manfredi, Chief Marketing Officer for Dove. "We have a responsibility to act and support a safer environment on social media, helping protect young people's mental health. This means going beyond individual interventions to drive systemic change."
To illustrate the scale of the issue and drive urgent action, Dove has released a new campaign film, "Cost of Beauty," which tells the real story of Mary, a young girl whose mental health was impacted by social media. The film closes with additional young people who have suffered mental health issues – like anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia – sparked by social media, and are now in recovery. Set to the iconic song, "You Are So Beautiful," and performed by singer/songwriter Self Esteem, the film offers a glimpse into the lives of young people growing up on social media today, and the devastating toll toxic beauty content can have on their wellbeing.
"As a teen in recovery from an eating disorder, sharing my experience has been very important to me to help others and show the true impact harmful content on social media can have on our mental health." shares Mary, Content Creator & Lead Voice in Cost of Beauty film. "I am proud to have worked with the Dove Self-Esteem Project to share my story and hopefully drive conversations and inspired tangible change to make social media safer, as it should be a safe space for everyone. My hope is that social media can become a safe space for kids and teens to express themselves creatively and positively."
Since 2004, the Dove Self-Esteem Project has been building self-esteem and body confidence in young people, educating over 94 million young people across 150 countries to-date.
Dove is proud to support the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and its Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) network on new virtual programming to increase early intervention and inclusive access to care for youth struggling with mental health issues through an online secure web-based platform. Dove's support of CAMH will also enable five YWHO physical locations to provide greater, timely access to their integrated services to young people – like clinical mental health and substance use assessments, care navigation, peer support and LGBTQ2S+ support groups.
"As Canada's largest mental health hospital, CAMH sets the standards for care, research, education and leading social change. We are committed to addressing gaps in youth mental health, and we are thrilled by Dove's support to advance our mission and provide young people with inclusive access to care through YWHO's virtual care demonstration initiative." shares Dr. Jo Henderson, C.Psych; Executive Director, YWHO; Director, Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health; Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; Senior Scientist, CAMH.
To ensure young people continue to have access to immediate mental health and wellness counselling, crisis support and tools, Dove is also partnering with Kids Help Phone – the only multilingual, no-cost, 24/7 e-mental health service for youth in Canada. KHP enables young people from age 5-27 to safely and confidentially express their feelings and receive mental health support.
Dove believes beauty should be a source of confidence, not anxiety, and is inviting Canadians to sign and send a pre-written letter to their local MP via dove.ca/kidsonlinesafety, voicing their support for more government regulation and policy and to call for social media regulations that will make scrolling a safer experience for today's youth.
If social media doesn't change for kids – their lives will. Watch the Cost of Beauty film and take action to support kids' online safety at Dove.ca/kidsonlinesafety. If you or someone you know needs mental health support today, visit kidshelpphone.ca or call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Canadians aged 5 to 29 who want confidential and anonymous care from trained responders.
NEW 2023 Dove Self-Esteem Project Research for Kids Online Safety was conducted via online survey by Edelman DXI, a global, multidisciplinary research, analytics, and data consultancy, in the USA, UK and Canada between January – February 2023 with 1,318 girls, 556 boys, 1,520 parents, 4,046 of the general population and 154 youth mental health specialists (total sample size of 7,594 respondents.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit camh.ca or follow @CAMHnews on Twitter.
Kids Help Phone is Canada's only 24/7 national, bilingual, e-mental health service offering free, confidential, multilingual support to young people. As the country's virtual care expert, we give millions of youth a safe, trusted space to talk over phone or through text or in self-directed supports in any moment of crisis or need. Through our digital transformation, we envision a future where every person in Canada is able to feel out loud and get the support they need, when they need it most. Kids Help Phone gratefully relies on the generosity of donors, volunteers, stakeholder partners, corporate partners and governments to fuel and fund our programs. Learn more at KidsHelpPhone.ca.
Dove started its life in 1957 in the US, with the launch of the Beauty Bar, with its patented blend of mild cleansers and ¼ moisturizing cream. Dove's heritage is based on moisturization, and it is proof not promises that enabled Dove to grow from a Beauty Bar into one of the world's most beloved beauty brands. Women have always been our inspiration and since the beginning, we have been wholly committed to providing superior care to all women and to championing real beauty in our advertising. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone. That beauty should be a source of confidence and not anxiety. Dove's mission is to inspire women everywhere to develop a positive relationship with the way they look and realize their personal potential for beauty.
For 60 years, Dove has been committed to broadening the narrow definition of beauty in the work they do. With the 'Dove Real Beauty Pledge,' Dove vows to:
- Portray women with honesty, diversity and respect. We feature women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color, type, and style.
- Portray women as they are in real life, with zero digital distortion and all images approved by the women they feature.
- Help young people build body confidence and self-esteem through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the biggest provider of self-esteem education in the world.
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 148,000 employees and generated sales of €52.4 billion in 2021. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world – including iconic brands like Dove, Knorr, Hellmann's, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Degree, Seventh Generation, St. Ives, Suave, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.
Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world's first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it's at the heart of how we run our company today.
The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:
- improving the health of the planet;
- improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and
- contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.
While there is still more to do, in the past year we're proud to have achieved sector leadership in S&P's Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 'Triple A' status in CDP's Climate, Water and Forest benchmarks, and to be named as the top ranked company in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey for the eleventh consecutive year.
For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com
For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca
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1 2023 Dove Self-Esteem Project Research |
SOURCE Dove Canada
Caelan Mcmichael | [email protected]; Louise Hugot | [email protected]
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