If we want sporting success, we have to stop body shaming in sport

This article was originally published by Dr Zali Yager on LinkedIn on Tuesday 21 October 2025. In this thought leadership piece, Dr Zali Yager explores the impact of body shaming on youth sport participation.

Sport Integrity Australia is sharing this article as part of the Sport is for Every BODY campaign, a collaboration with The Embrace Collective, to support safer, more inclusive sporting environments for children and young people.

Picture this: A 13-year-old steps onto the field. Their body feels like it’s grown and changed since last week. They’re still not 100% sure of the rules, and not confident in their skills. They are expected to perform wearing a uniform that they don’t feel comfortable in while parents and peers watch, judge, and critique. At a developmentally vulnerable time, this is a huge moment of courage. But too often, the comments they hear make them feel like it’s safer to stay on the sidelines.

For more than 20 years, there has been a solid push to promote youth sport and physical activity, particularly among girls. There has been significant investment, so many excellent programs, and so many passionate people dedicated to this cause.

But the statistics still show that young people are leaving sport. Sport participation rates globally have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. The most recent figures from the Australian Sports Commission indicate that 26% of young people aged 0-14 in Australia participate in organised sport through a club or association outside of school, and Allianz research found that 30% of young Australians have asked their parents if they can quit sport by the age of 15.

The barrier we don’t talk about

It’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: body image is a barrier to sport participation. Appearance pressures, and the comments we make about young people’s looks, are contributing to them dropping out of sport

In the 2024 Butterfly Body Kind Youth Survey, 34.5% of young people reported that their body image stopped them from engaging in sport or physical activity ‘all the time’ or ‘quite a bit’. It’s something we haven’t talked about as often as the barriers of time, financial pressure or access — but the pressure is real.

Body shaming in focus

Recent research from Sport Integrity Australia found that young people reported that 1 in 5 young people have witnessed body shaming in sport in the last 12 months — and this was more common than bullying, racism, discrimination or physical abuse.

Body shaming in sport doesn’t always look like overt insults. It can sound like: “wow, you’ve really filled out over the off-season”, “in order to be competitive you really need to bulk up” or “oh you’re really tall, so you will play defence”.

While the academic research tends to focus on body shaming from coaches and team managers in collegiate and elite sport, young people in Australia tell us that body shaming mostly comes from other athletes, or the parents who are watching from the sidelines. Comments made about others' bodies can impact young people just as much as direct remarks made about their own.

Many of us have unknowingly made a comment about the appearance of the young people on the pitch — comments like “wow, he’s big, are you sure he’s under 12?” or “huh, she’s pretty good for her size” are things many of us have said without meaning any harm.

But these comments are not harmless. Far from it.

The real impact of body shaming

Time and time again, high profile athletes have publicly shared the sorts of comments they’ve endured about their bodies, including Olympians like Libby Trickett, who introduces our Activate Sport Masterclass from The Embrace Collective with “over my career, I experienced countless times where my body was the topic of conversation, but I wasn’t a part of it.” 

The athletes that we hear speak out about this were the ones that made it, but there are countless young people who didn’t.

Research shows that these comments can be the spark that fuels disordered eating, depression, and dropping out of sport. So many young people (of all genders) have shared their stories about the comments that made them quit (or almost quit) the sport they loved as an adolescent. These young people quit athletics, rowing, water polo, soccer, netball, gymnastics and dance, all because of comments other people made about their bodies.

And it’s not only what we say on the court, pitch, field, or poolside. The way the media, commentators, coaches and fans talk about elite athletes — online and on TV — also sends powerful messages. When kids hear players praised or criticised for their bodies and appearance rather than their skills, they internalise the idea that how you look matters more than how you play. Those words start to define the ‘look’ or the type of body you ‘need’ to have in order to belong in a certain sport, which starts to deter young people from participating, in case their bodies start getting scrutinised too. 

Globally, youth sport participation rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Cost and access are part of the problem, but so too is culture. If kids don’t feel safe, like they belong or that they are valued for who they are, they leave. And we all lose out. 

We will never achieve progress in promoting youth sport unless we address body commentary and body shaming in our sporting clubs and culture. This is why the launch of Sport is for Every BODY — a collaboration between Sport Integrity Australia and The Embrace Collective — is so important.

Sport is for Every BODY

This new initiative is one of the first in the world to directly tackle body shaming in sport. The Sport is for Every BODY resources are practical, evidence-based, and tailored towards young people, parents, coaches and club administrators. 

With engaging videos — one for young people and one for coaches — as well as posters for clubhouses and change rooms, factsheets that explain body shaming and how to prevent it, and activities to build inclusive, positive club culture, these resources highlight that Australia is showing global leadership in this space. We’re naming the issue, creating resources and embedding them at the grassroots level to ensure long-term change and positive impact.

Sport Integrity Australia Athlete Advisory Group members are championing this campaign, and supporting a movement away from such intense scrutiny and commentary about athletes’ bodies. Australian diver Melissa Wu reframes this with: 

For me, feeling strong, healthy and fuelled has always been the key to enjoying my sport and competing at my best.

Australian rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva encourages athletes and those around them to treat their body with respect, and talk about it that way:

Your body is your instrument, your engine, and your partner in every goal you chase.

If we want to grow participation, improve retention and get back on the podium, tackling body shaming has to be as central as addressing cost, facilities or coaching standards.

This is not a “nice to have” — it’s non-negotiable.

Here's what you can do

Now it’s up to you — coaches, parents, administrators, teammates and sporting leaders. We’re passing the baton to you to help us continue facilitating positive change in sporting environments around the country.

1. Download the free Sport is for Every BODY resources
2. Share them in your clubs
3. Start the conversations that will shape the future of sport.

Every child deserves to experience the joy of sport without fear of being judged for how they look. By tackling body shaming at the community level, we can reset sporting culture — for Australia, and for the world.

Dr Zali Yager is an internationally-recognised global authority in body image, leveraging over 20 years of research experience and expertise to transform programs and practice in ways that build better body image, health, and wellbeing. Dr Yager is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University in Australia, and Co-Executive Director of The Embrace Collective, alongside 2023 Australian of the Year, Taryn Brumfitt.

Together, this dynamic duo have taken their mission to Prime Ministers, Professors, and Presidents, from Parliament House in Australia, to the White House in the USA. Read more at theembracehub.com