**EXCLUSIVE** Many Women Of Color Struggle...

Not long ago, I hosted a town hall discussion on health for the BET Foundation with an audience of around 100 girls aged 8 to 11.   That was the day I realized an issue that’s been plaguing women for generations is now infiltrating innocent minds frighteningly early -- body image. While addressing the topic of self-esteem a number of these children admitted to disliking what they see in the mirror each morning.   Some of the more outspoken ones revealed that they’re unhappy with their physical appearance because they look nothing like the women they see and hear about everyday through the media.  Unfortunately most of us have experienced body image issues at some point but that probably didn’t begin until puberty, so to see younger kids taking on this kind of emotional stress before their bodies have even begun to develop was heartbreaking.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks, I’m covering an event for the organization “Black Girls Rock” asking some of the high-profile women in attendance (Mary J., Raven Symone, Janelle Monae, etc.) what they believe to be the biggest issue facing today’s girls and women of color.  An overwhelming number of them gave the same answer – body image and self-esteem. How we view our physical appearance can impact our behavior, how we interact with others, whether or not we value ourselves and ultimately our happiness.  But just imagine how a child deals with feeling unattractive.