4 Ways to Help Your Teen Develop a Healthy Body Image

As a parent, nurturing a positive body image is crucial element in helping your kids grow into healthy, well-rounded adults. Helping your teen establish a healthy body image is important.

When they feel good about their body, they are more likely to have a positive self-esteem as well as a balanced attitude about eating and physical activity. Your body is something you show to the world and it is directly linked to how you feel about yourself.

Likewise, an unhealthy body image is directly related to low self-esteem, which can lead to a number of issues like depression, social withdrawal, or eating disorders. Here are 4 ways to help your teen develop a healthy body image:

Think About Your Messages

When helping your kids develop a healthy body image, it is important to think about the messages you want to convey. You want your kids to see the value of their bodies, without focusing on appearance or aesthetics. Help your children identify what their body does for them, as well as other things they like about themselves—their abilities, skills, and talents. Comment on their abilities and skills, so these are the messages they are hearing.

It’s also important to have conversations about our bodies and how they change, especially as children grow, develop, and go through puberty and the changes to expect, and know that it is normal. Remind kids that there is no “perfect” body, and that all bodies are different and unique.

If you notice your child speaking poorly about themselves or putting too much emphasis on their body, their shape, or their size, help them challenge their thoughts. Another tip is to remember that our body is a part of us, but does not define us.

We are so much more than just our bodies, so it’s important to send the message that our body, shape, size, weight, etc. does not define who we are.

Be a Good Role Model

When helping establish a healthy body image, it is important that you are setting a good example for your kids. Watch how you talk about your own body or the bodies of others. How you view your body will communicate more than you realize.

Being a role model of acceptance of self and others is one of the most important things we can do as parents. Children follow our examples of how we treat ourselves and others. Negative body talk establishes a value system related to appearance that is consistent with the unattainable standards of beauty in our society.

Parents also need to model a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Avoid any direct or subtle messages about having to “earn” food. Food is not something a person has to be worthy of to consume. For example, we do not have to exercise to deserve our meals and snacks.

Address Social Media

One of the biggest influences in a young person’s life is social media. Not only is it a vehicle for connecting with peers and family members, but it also can have a huge influence on body image and mental wellbeing.

Recognize that social media is such a big part of their lives. They are inundated with images and they are much more focused on the way in which they present themselves online and the conversations around social media.

If possible try to sit with your teen and look together at the accounts they follow and find out what they feel about these images. Do they think they are realistic? Do they understand that photos can be altered or that filters may have been used?

You want to ensure your kids understand that what they are seeing online may not be realistic. It’s also important to offset how saturated social media can be with other positive beliefs and values.

Celebrate individuality and the importance of our bodies and their functions early in order to build a positive body outlook.

How to Support Mindful Eating in Kids

The body positivity movement is designed to help people accept and love their bodies. But the pressure for kids and teens to be positive about their bodies even when they don’t always feel that way can seem like an impossible standard to live up to.

Instead of focusing on body positivity, appearance, or weight, build your teen’s self-confidence and self-esteem in other ways by talking about how kind they are or how hard they work.

While kids need to learn to love and appreciate their bodies, try to keep the focus on what their body does for them instead of what it looks like.

Mums do you have teens or tweens? Are they aware of their body and body image? Let us know in the comments below x