Helping young people have a healthy body image
August 12, 2024 Well-being
Parents
The concern for appearance begins very early in development. As early as the age of three, some children already begin to pay more attention to their image, their clothing, and the way others look at them. From the age of six, many children simply don't like their bodies.
Knowing that adolescence is a time of great upheaval where the desire to please and be loved and the comparison with peers are commonplace, it is essential to foster a positive self-perception beginning in childhood.
Actions that harm a healthy body image
1. Commenting on weight and appearance
Talking negatively about your weight in front of children, associating thinness with happiness, success and health, and complimenting other people's weight loss (or congratulating yourself on losing weight) sends the message that weight is important and that you MUST care about it. Worse still, such behaviors can cause the child to value themselves almost solely by appearance. Try to avoid comments like:
- I have to start a diet and pay more attention to what I’m eating because I've gained weight.
- You’re glowing! You look so healthy since you lost weight.
- Have you gained weight lately? What's going on?
2. Demonizing or overvaluing certain foods
To prevent children from developing a conflictual relationship with food, we must avoid categorizing foods as good or bad.
Each food meets a need and fulfills a function in our body. A balanced diet consists of listening to your body and your hunger signals, not forbidding yourself to consume what you like, and above all, deriving pleasure from eating.
Depriving a child of dessert could lead them to feel guilty about eating it or to want to eat in secret, for fear of being punished or simply out of shame.
Actions that cultivate a healthy body image
1. Helping young people learn to be critical of media messages
It is essential to have an unfiltered discussion about the impact of diet culture, fatphobia, and prejudice against fat people, photo editing, as well as the unrealistic beauty standards disseminated on the various digital platforms.
The idea is not to completely ban the use of social networks, but rather to make young people realize that the content they are exposed to can greatly influence their vision of their bodies.
Instead, let's encourage them to filter the type of content consumed, reduce their screen time, follow positive influencers, etc. We can also explain that just because we regularly see thin or muscular people on magazine covers, in advertisements, or on TikTok does not mean that this is the norm.
2. Encouraging physical activity for the pleasure of moving
Take a moment to ask yourself what motivates you to move. Is it to lose weight? Out of a sense of obligation? To compensate for the fact that you ate dessert? Or rather to get pleasure from it, to release excess energy, or to take care of your mental health?
Help youth to see their bodies from a functional perspective. For example, you can ask: What does your body allow you to do on a daily basis? How do you feel when you run? When you dance? What skills do your favourite sport allow you to develop? For example, playing basketball could help develop team spirit, speed, endurance, etc.
Find support
Being a good role model for your children does not mean being the embodiment of perfection. The key is kindness and healthy communication.
If you feel like diet and weight are taking up a lot of space in your life (or your child's), ask for help! The team at the Quebec organization ANEB are there to listen to you in complete confidentiality, and above all, without judgment.
References (two in french)
Youth in Mind Foundation, Helping Your Child Develop a Healthy Body Image
La Presse, Quand l’enfant de 4 ans se préoccupe de son habillement
Naître et grandir, L’image corporelle chez les enfants
