Several physical activity organisations are among the nominees for the 2014 Body Confidence Awards – an event bidding to tackle the growing problem of body image anxiety through education, health, media and advertising.

The awards take place during Body Confidence Week (13-19 October) which marks the launch of a new national movement, aiming for everyone in the UK to be body confident. The campaign has been developed by a partnership of charities, brands and trade associations, in response to the Reflections on Body Image report from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Body Image published in 2012. The report highlighted that low body confidence is a critical public health issue, damaging lives and affecting more than 60 per cent of the UK population.

Both the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation and the Youth Sport Trust (YST) have been nominated for their work promoting health and self-confidence through physical activity. YST’s Girls Active pilot programme gave girls more say on how PE and sport should be delivered in schools to make it more appealing. It aimed to tackle the negative attitude that girls have toward their body image, with the pilot seeing the number of girls who were happy with the way their body looked more than double, while enjoyment of PE lessons also spiked.

“The main reason for the success of Girls Active is down to one simple concept,” said YST managing director Ali Oliver. “We simply gave teenage girls a voice and let them decide how PE and physical activity should be delivered to them, which significantly influenced their attitudes to school and life."

The winners will be announced at a House of Commons awards ceremony on 16 October, with presenters including TV star and body confidence campaigner Gok Wan, and paralympian Stef Reid. The shortlist has been selected by a judging panel made up of experts, researchers and leaders within these three core fields.