START DATE AND DURATION: January 2025 - January 2027In 2017, the government designed a new mental health service based in schools. They recommended that this service delivered groups to teenage girls to discuss how they think and feel about their appearance, to try and stop them from developing mental health problems like eating disorders. These groups are called ‘The Body Project’. There has been lots of research which shares how successful ‘The Body Project’ has been. However, in the UK, young people have provided feedback saying that they wanted to discuss more diverse appearances in these groups.
This research proposes to action recommendations which were co-developed as part of 'The Body Image and Ethnicity Study' by co-designing ‘The South Asian Body Project’ and an accompanying intervention support toolkit (IST) with experts-by-experience. Next, a pilot trial will evaluate the efficacy of ‘The South Asian Body Project’ in East London schools.
In addition to traditional routes of impact (conference presentations, publications), we will work with key stakeholders to establish a Community of Practice where we can ensure that school-based body image interventions are being delivered in a culturally accessible way.