Did you know… 38% of 4-year-old girls in Australia are dissatisfied with their bodies?
After discovering this startling statistic, Merissa Forsyth quit her job to start Pretty Foundation – a national charity on a mission to change this. Three years on, Pretty Foundation is leading the way in creating early developmental initiatives that foster a healthy body image in young girls aged 2-6.
“I was once asked, what would our world look like if our girls grew up without being ‘weighed down’ by the impact of negative body image? I started to imagine a generation of confident girls growing up to be confident women. I saw women and girls reaching their full potential and prospering for the betterment of not just themselves, but society. At that point, I realised I could no longer allow this to be something I only imagined. Our world needed this to be a reality and so the Pretty Foundation was born,” says Merissa Forsyth, CEO and Founder of Pretty Foundation.
As girls grow, body image concerns can hold them back from achieving their potential in sport and in life. Recognising this, Pretty Foundation launched a children’s book to empower girls under the age of 7, both on and off the footy field. Titled ‘Charlie’s Tales: Peggy and the Fantastic Football’, the book encourages girls to have confidence in their bodies and the amazing things they can do. It is the third book in the Charlie’s Tales series which aims to build body confidence and resilience in girls by harnessing the power of storytelling to instil positive body image messages in our next generation.
“Our Charlie’s Tales series seeks to develop Charlie as a peer role model to set an example for our girls: one who embodies the characteristics of a healthy body image, and seeks to live her life to its full potential. So far, 320,000 children have had the chance to experience Charlie’s Tales with 55% of parents reporting a positive body image impact within just one month of reading the books to them,” says Merissa.
When we heard about the exciting work Pretty Foundation is doing, we jumped on board to support this meaningful cause. In fact, you might recall seeing the Pretty Foundation team at our AFLW season launch, game day on International Women’s Day and Family Day last year.
“We’re honoured to support the work the Pretty Foundation does in empowering women and girls to build body confidence and live their best life.” – Liz Dunne – Community Manager, Collingwood
To celebrate our support of the Pretty Foundation, we’re giving you the chance to get your hands on a copy of ‘Charlie’s Tales: Peggy and the Fantastic Football’ for the cost of postage only!
To give the gift of body confidence to a young girl in your life, all you have to do is head here and enter PIES2021 into the coupon code section at checkout to save! But be quick, this offer applies for the first 2000 pies fans and is available until 28 February 2021! Coupon code can be redeemed for one book per family.
And if that wasn’t enough, there is also a free downloadable parent’s kit to accompany this book which includes fun children’s activities to help you further instil this important message. Check it out here.
For more information about Pretty Foundation or to make a donation, visit www.prettyfoundation.org
