Katie McCabe has opened up about the body image issues she experienced as a teenager as she joined Louise McSharry on her podcast.
The Irish captain and Arsenal player revealed that as a young teen she felt insecure about her legs as they were bigger than those of the other girls in her school as a result of playing sport.
The 26-year-old told Louise: "Growing up, because I played football since the age of five, I had bigger legs than the other girls. I was in an all girls school. I would have been really self conscious. I wouldn’t be as confident wearing a skirt.
"I soon realised that through my teams, you see people similar to you. There were other people with legs like mine. My dad always said they’d get me far and that stuck with me."
The conversation about body image came about as the pair discussed their involvement with Dove's self esteem campaign.
Louise revealed to her listeners that Dove's research found that 70% of girls and 62% of boys in Ireland have not attended an extracurricular activity because of how they felt about their appearance. According to the research, 49% of boys don’t feel good about how they look and 90% of girls don’t have high body esteem.
Louise said: "If we grow up in a world that teaches us to be so critical of our bodies, it really doesn’t matter what kind of body we have because we’ll find something to criticise."
Katie told Louise that she was never bullied for how she looked growing up, but often felt uncomfortable about her appearance especially when it came to wearing certain clothes.
She revealed: "It was my own kind of insecurities. Comparison is the thief of joy.
"I remember going to underage discos being my worst nightmare. I would much rather be in jerseys and tracksuits. When it came to discos I had to get dressed up."
Speaking about how things are starting to change, Katie added: "I’ve got a younger sister who is 14. She reminds me of myself at that age. The opportunities she has now to wear a pair of combats or something to a disco, she probably won’t feel scrutinised for doing that."
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