Dove’s Global Self-Esteem Project comes to New Zealand

19 July 2017

Dove’s Global Self-Esteem Project comes to New Zealand
Body confidence a worldwide issue

• The Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP) aims to boost the self-esteem and body confidence of 18,000 young Kiwis this year

• DSEP has reached 19 million young people in over 138 countries worldwide to date

• Aim to reach 1 million across Australia and New Zealand, and a further 20 million globally by 2020

Studies show that 8 out of 10 girls (8-16 years) will opt out of fundamental life activities such as attending school, playing sports or engaging with friends, due to low self-esteem worrying about their appearance and body image concerns. While 72% of girls reveal they are not assertive or confident in their opinions if they don’t feel good about the way they look. Dove’s mission is to change this and to ensure the next generation of Kiwis grow up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look, helping them to reach their full potential.

Dove has announced the launch of the world renowned global Dove Self Esteem Project (DSEP) into New Zealand today. Working in partnership with the Life Education Trust and Girl Guides New Zealand, the global beauty brand aims to reach and positively influence 18,000 young Kiwis over the next year by providing parents, teachers and mentors with life changing self-esteem building programmes.

Dr Philippa Diedrichs, a research psychologist and Associate Professor at the Centre for Appearance Research University of the West of England, has conducted extensive research into how body image can affect girls’ lives. She has also contributed to research underpinning DSEP’s educational tools.

“Accepting and respecting your body is incredibly important to girls’ and women’s mental and physical health and well-being. Research also shows that when girls and women experience low body confidence their relationships with family and friends can be negatively affected, and their aspirations for education and work are curtailed. This can include a reluctance for girls to put their hands up in the classroom and to give an opinion, through to not turning up to work or feeling stressed and anxious as a woman” says Dr Diedrichs. “That’s why it is incredibly important to equip Kiwi kids with the tools to challenge appearance pressures and to develop body confidence. This is what Dove is aiming to do with the launch of the Dove Self Esteem Project in New Zealand”.

“By utilising the latest scientific advances and extensive input from girls, women, teachers and other experts, Dove has created programmes that are proven in rigourous studies to work. Having grown up in New Zealand, I’m incredibly excited and proud to see these programmes are now available to young kiwi girls all over the country.”

5,000 Girl Guiders have already been exposed to the DSEP through Dove’s global partnership with the organisation. This will continue as part of the official New Zealand launch and be complemented by the partnership with Life Education which will see the programme rolled out in schools across the country.

Dove senior brand manager ANZ, Tessa Black says of the programme, “Dove’s stance on Real Beauty is known globally and we believe that beauty should be a source of confidence, not worry. Our mission is make sure that the next generation of young girls grow up with positive opinions of themselves and their bodies.”

“The Dove Self Esteem Project is the largest provider of evidence-based body image education in the world, and launching it into New Zealand will put us well on our way to achieving our goal of reaching 1 million lives across ANZ by 2020.”

The DSEP includes Confident Me[1] [2] which is a teachers’ resource proven to improve body image, boost self-esteem and reduce the impact of body image concerns on young people’s lives. Uniquely Me[3] is tailored specifically for parents includes articles shown to improve mothers’ and daughters’ self-esteem and body image, as well as increase the number of conversations about body confidence between the two.

Since it was established in 2004, the DSEP has reached over 20 million lives worldwide, and aims to reach a further 20 million globally by 2020.

For more information or to download Dove Self Esteem Programme resources, visit www.selfesteem.mydove.co.nz.

- ENDS -

References

[1] Atkinson, M.J., Diedrichs, P.C., & Garbett, K.M. (2016). Evaluating ‘Dove Confident Me: 5-part Body Confidence Workshops for Schools’: Results from a school-based cluster randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Paper presented at Appearance Matters 7, London.

2 Diedrichs, P.C., Atkinson, M.J., Steer, R.J., Garbett, K.M., Rumsey, N. & Halliwell, E. (2015). Effectiveness of a brief school- based body image intervention ‘Dove Confident Me: Single Session’ when delivered by teachers and researchers: Results from a cluster randomised controlled trial.Behaviour Research & Therapy, 74, 94-104. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2015.09.0

3 Diedrichs, P. C., Atkinson, M. J., Garbett, K. M., Williamson, H., Halliwell, E., Rumsey, N., Leckie, G., Sibley, C. G., & Barlow,

F. K. (2016). Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Mother-Daughter Body Image and Well-Being Intervention. Health Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000361

About Dr Phillippa Diedrichs

Dr Phillippa Diedrichs is a research psychologist with an international reputation for creating and using evidence-based strategies to improve body image in community, education, corporate, and policy settings on a local, national, and global scale. With a PhD in health psychology from the University of Queensland, she is passionate about working in partnership to create environments that accept diversity in appearance and support individuals to live free from the constraint of appearance concerns. As an Associate Professor at the Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England, she leads a team of researchers investigating psychological and social influences on body image, and the development and evaluation of online and face-to-face body image interventions. She has co-created and evaluated evidence-based body image programmes that are now delivered in 136 countries through multi-stakeholder partnerships with the Dove Self Esteem Project. Her research has garnered international media attention and awards, and has been published in esteemed, academic peer-reviewed journals. Dr Diedrichs has advised and worked with the British Government Equalities Offices, Unilever, Transport for London, YMCA, and the World Association for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts on body image research and advocacy.

Research

Research taken from The Dove Global Beauty and Confidence report. The report, written by Edelman agency, highlights global findings on the effects of low body appreciation and body-esteem in girls and women. The report includes data from 13 countries from across the world.

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