How to help your children avoid developing body image issues by
“I’m so fat.” “I’m ugly.” Words like these may be upsetting to hear when they come from a 10-year-old or a teenager, but it can be really disturbing when they’re spoken by kids as young as preschool or kindergarten age. Various research has shown that kids may begin to worry about body weight and physical appearance as early as age 3 to 5 and that many young children express unhappiness about their appearance or bodies.
A 2015 report by Common Sense Media (a nonprofit organization that works to educate and empower parents, teachers, and policymakers about ways to help kids thrive as they use media and technology) found that body image starts to develop at a very young age and that images centered around how someone looks are stereotypical, unrealistic, and gender-biased.
Kids learn about body image—and develop anxieties about their appearance—from a variety of sources, including parents, friends and peers, and the media. Parents can play a crucial role in encouraging a sense of good body image in kids.
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
Watch your words. Don’t say things like, “I look so fat in this,” or “I can’t eat this because it’ll make me fat.” Your child is listening and learning from you. The Common Sense Media study found that kids ages 5 to 8 who think their moms are unhappy with their bodies are more likely to be dissatisfied with their own bodies. Show confidence in your body as well as about yourself.
Try not to focus on appearance. Don’t talk about people’s appearance and their bodies rather focus on more important things about a person, such as how kind or charitable they are or whether they have good manners or work hard.
Emphasize exercise and healthy eating over their weight. Spend family time doing active things like playing outside, riding bikes, and going to the park. When you go grocery shopping, let kids help you choose healthy foods.
Scan their toys. Take a look at the action figures in your son’s toy chest. Do they have unrealistic bulging muscles? Do the dolls in your daughter’s room have proportions that are not humanly possible? Try to edit these toys out or at least balance them out with more realistic representations of the human body.
Talk to your older kids about gender and body stereotypes in ads and media. View content with your child and when you see commercials or TV shows or movies that feature women in skimpy costumes or make unhealthy foods look tempting, talk about what’s wrong with these images.
Teach older kids to view junk food ads with an understanding of what they are trying to sell and talk about why these foods are bad for their health.”
Wishing you all a Happy Purim and Shabbat Shalom
“Encourage and support your kids because children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.”