Body image tops concerns of young people

It is not just young women who care about hair, clothes and weight - young men are just as concerned about their body image.

Body image is the biggest concern of young people between the ages of 11 and 24 according to Mission Australia's 2007 national survey of 30,000 respondents.

Family conflict rated second and coping with stress third in a survey which asked young people to rank 14 issues - including drugs, discrimination and the environment - in order of most concern.

Thirty-two per cent listed body image in their top three, 29.3 per cent family conflict and 26.9 per cent coping with stress.

Body image rated third in last year's survey prompting Mission Australia spokeswoman Anne Hampshire to express concern about its growing emphasis.

"As a community we should all be concerned about these results," Ms Hampshire said in a statement.

"Not only has body image grown in concern since last year's survey, but among young adults - those aged 20-24 - concern about this issue has doubled."

Both male and female respondents listed body image as their top concern but it was more common for young women - with 34.9 per cent rating the issue in their top three, compared with 27.9 per cent of males.

Indigenous people - who made up six per cent of respondents - also listed body image as their biggest concern.

However, alcohol was the second biggest concern of indigenous contributors - 31.8 per cent rated it in their top three compared with 19.6 per cent of non-indigenous respondents.

Young indigenous people (26.4 per cent) were also more concerned about getting a job than their non-indigenous counterparts (15 per cent).

Alcohol was a big concern for young men - of which 27.3 per cent listed it a significant concern, opposed to 15.4 per cent of young women.

A quarter of young women listed physical or sexual abuse as a significant concern, compared with 16 per cent of young men.

The survey also showed that young people placed enormous importance on their family and friends and were most likely to turn to them for advice.

"Far from the media's portrayal of young people as highly materialistic, when asked what they value, financial security lags some way behind family and friends," Ms Hampshire said.

The young people surveyed said the things they most valued were family relationships, friendships and good physical and mental health.