The idea of a "summer body" has grown over the years. All of a sudden, for you to enjoy a nice and warm summer day at the beach or pool, you should look slim, toned and tan. All of these stereotypes of a summer body and how you should look can really have an effect on how people perceive their own bodies. In this case, the people most affected by the summer body idea are teenagers. This obsession with having the perfect body before the summer starts is a perfect example of unrealistic beauty standards. These close-knit, damaging standards make us put our appearance above the importance of our health, happiness and self-worth.

The mental effects of these standards can lead to things like depression and anxiety, constant self-comparison, and avoiding going out to events due to feeling self-conscious. The term "summer body" has impacted teens’ ideas of their body image in a negative way. Even though there are some teens who already have a bad idea of their own body — like how they perceive their body — this idea of the perfect, fit, tan and toned body that they should have for summer makes them feel even worse.

The concerns of body image for teenagers are extremely important because if these negative effects or the idea of the so-called perfect body continue to grow and reach younger ages, it can get progressively worse. The idea of the perfect body does exist, but the reality of it is that the actual, real "perfect body" doesn't exist. All these ideas and unhealthy expectations have a vast variety of negative effects on anyone — no matter how old you are or how you perceive this image of the "perfect summer body."