'Selfies' are scarily normal for teenagers of today.

 

While it can seem like a bit of fun, sometimes teens start taking it too seriously.

 

Mum Becky Wharton is witnessing this first-hand.

 

The mum-of-two from Lancashire is heartbroken watching her daughter Caitlan's "daily struggle to make herself perfect."

 

In a bid to convince the 13-year-old that she's beautiful as she is, Becky penned a heartbreaking Facebook plea to her girl. 

 

Becky (34) worries her girl's quest for perfection is spiralling out of control, as the teen eats different meals to the rest of the family and is 'permanently hungry.'

 

 

 

After arranging for Caitlan to have modelling photographs, in a bid to boost her self-esteem, Becky is now struggling to see a solution to the problem.

 

She began seeing a dietician and a psychologist after she started taking "thousands" of selfies and continually asked if she was overweight.

 

"This has been going on since Caitlan was 11. It started at primary school when they learned about healthy eating. She took it to the extreme and wanted to stop eating butter," Becky wrote. 

 

"She then got bullied by a group of girls calling her fat. When she moved on to high school she made new friends, but the girls from primary school were still there with her."

 

While Becky acknowledges that it's the norm for teen girls to love social media, she worries about the effect that our image-mad world is having on her. 

 

 

"She goes on Facebook and looks in magazines and sees perfect eyebrows and slim figures and that's all she wants for herself."

 

"She can spend an hour doing her eyebrows to get them looking perfect sometimes. It makes her really stressed."

 

"She is constantly taking selfies and she wears make-up for school every day. She is a size 6, but she will put something on at home and come and ask me if she looks fat."

 

"I have tried to explain to her that the photos you see in magazines are highly edited but I can't get through to her."

 

Becky became even more worried about her girl when she discovered her pocket money in her schoolbag - proof that she doesn't eat lunch at school. 

 

This is particularly alarming as she barely eats at home either.

 

"At meal times, we cook something separate for her. We will make her tea but she doesn't eat it, she will just pick at it."

 

 

"We try to make something she'll eat like chicken for protein, with pasta and red peppers. But she'll only eat a small portion."

 

"I have to make sure she eats breakfast too before school, but she'll just have a breakfast bar or some toast. She tries to make herself full on milkshakes, fizzy drinks and water."

 

"She has been seen by a dietician. I wouldn't say she is bordering on anorexia but she limits what she eats. She weighs 7st and is definitely underweight."

 

"She once had stomach pains at school and told the nurse she was always hungry but she'd gotten used to it."

 

"She's had an initial appointment with a psychologist as she's been diagnosed with OCD. It's mainly to do with cleanliness and eating.

 

She can't even have different items of food touching on her plate."

 

Becky said that Caitlan does a bit of modeling for Becky's friend, and that the photos have given her girl a confidence boost. 

 

However, she still "doesn't like the way she looks."

 

"He let Caitlan see the edited and the unedited photos to show her the difference so that she won't over-analyse what she sees in magazines."

 

 

Feeling at a loss, Becky admits that parenting teens is no mean feat - especially these days. 

 

"Having teenagers has got to be one of the hardest jobs ever. Every mum is probably going through the same thing as me, but not to this extreme."

 

Despite her near-despair, Becky thinks it "would be great if there was a group we could join to speak to people who are going through the same thing."

 

"Maybe it will wear off when Caitlan is older and isn't influenced by other people quite so much. I've got to hope that will happen. At the moment I don't know what other option we have."

 

We suspect many parents out there can relate to Becky. 

 

You can read Becky's heartbreaking post in full below. 

 

 

SHARE if you worry about your teenager's obsession with their looks. 
 

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