God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another.” — William Shakespeare in Hamlet (1603)

While the universal desire to look good and pleasing is natural, in the new digital age it’s becoming an obsession especially among teenage children and youth — too many of whom are prepared to move mountains to make themselves another. The birth of internet and spread of the world wide web has made social media ubiquitous. And while it has revolutionised communication and has numerous upsides, social media has also emerged as the most powerful medium shaping how people worldwide — especially millennials and Gen Z — evaluate themselves.

Currently an estimated 1.3 billion early teens and youth are posting and preening themselves on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok among others, expending an average three-four hours daily uploading images, videos, messages and approvals by way of likes, hearts and comments.

As a result, a new image beautification industry comprising photo curators, image enhancers, dieticians, beauty creams and lotions manufacturers and marketers, fitness instructors, influencers and cosmetic surgeons has mushroomed to endow good looks-obsessed teens, youth and even elders, anxious to solicit online likes, hearts and compliments. Across the country an exponentially rising number of adolescents and youth from India’s fast-expanding 430 million middle class are signing up for dangerous diets and even going under the knife, to attain idealised beauty standards. This look-good obsession is taking a huge toll by way of rising cases of anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia among adolescents and youth when promises of flawless, chiselled good looks and sculpted bodies are belied.

In our this month’s cover story we highlight a spreading mental health crisis within millennials and Gen Z because of the social media comparison and validation culture. The message to parents is to limit — not ban — children’s exposure to narcissistic social media apps through responsible usage, education about the distorted reality of heavily edited ‘perfect’ photos and to develop children’s self-confidence by redirecting them to online platforms that propagate positive body image, life skills and holistic personality development.

There’s lots more in this issue of ParentsWorld. Check out our Early Childhood section in which child psychologist Riddhi Doshi Patel explains how music and movement enhances children’s physical and cognitive development during their early years, the Health & Nutrition essay in which Nick Fuller, author of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids, answers an oft-asked question by parents: ‘Do my children need vitamin supplements’? Also recommended is our Recipes section in which home chef Farida Gupta shares healthy, nutritious dessert recipes for Diwali.