"I need to gain weight", "I don't like my fat arms", "I am on a diet". Do these statements sound familiar? Why are so many women unsatisfied with the way they look? What is preventing them from liking their own body when they look in the mirror?

Family and friends are the first to influence our body image. A young girl listening to her mother complaining about her weight or watching her sister enforce numerous food restrictions on herself during dinner is not equipped to think critically about the narratives she is being subconciously taught. When that girl listens to her friends in grade 3 making comments along the lines of, "I don't want her to be on my team because she is too fat to run fast". and, "she must be so thin because her parents can't afford to buy her food" , those narratives are further solidified as truth in her developing brain.

Early on, many of us already understand those messages and feel the pressure of weight - an important factor for us to be seen as attractive and accepted. We may find that we often make unfair judgments based on stereotypes such as "thin equals beautiful" and "fat equals lazy". This size prejudice enables us to believe that our self-worth is centered around our weight.

We feel guilty and ashamed for being overweight or underweight, and we strive to achieve an "ideal" weight that is going to bring us health, happiness, and success.

Unfortunately, such twisted thinking is further reinforced by the media, which sets a false and unrealistic standard on what a 'normal' body weight is by constantly exposing us to real or enhanced images of beauty ideals. Truthfully, it is a fact that most of us cannot look like models or Hollywood stars. It is hard not to compare ourselves to their 'perfect' bodies when we flip through magazines or watch movies. Nonetheless, doing so can, no doubt, make us feel inadequate and depressed.

As Emma Watson once said, "feeling beautiful has nothing to do with what you look like." As a society, we need to move away from unrealistic beauty standards, and embrace all of our 'imperfect' bodies, treating them with the love and honour that they deserve.

As difficult as it may be, try your best stop focusing solely on the flaws of your body, and work on building a positive relationship with it by eating well, sleeping well, exercising regularly, and refraining from harmful habits like smoking and drinking.

Do things to make your body feel good every day - put on a pair of comfy socks, dress your body affectionately, light up a candle of your favorite scent to make your body relax. Look into the mirror and be thankful for your body parts - thank your big belly for protecting your organs, thank your thick thighs for giving you the power to skate and swim fast, thank the flat silhouette you inherited from your grandma as a constant reminder of someone you love. Get to know your amazing, miraculous body - understand how your body digests food, learn how your body creates blood, realize how a woman's body grows and nurses a baby. In other words, start appreciating your body.

Feeling good about your body gives you the strength to not be defeated by negative comments. Feeling good about your body gives you the confidence to go after the things you deem important. Feeling good about your body gives you the knowledge that everyone who loves you will love you just as much no matter how your body changes.

It is frustrating to see how girls nowadays, even at age seven or eight, are starting to hate and abuse their bodies to attain "perfection". These girls, as well as all women around the world, have to know how to be proud of themselves and how they are all beautiful just the way they are. After all, we only get one body in a lifetime. Instead of detesting it, don't you think we should all learn to respect it and love it?