Here are some tips parents and kids can use in order to create a more positive body image environment at home:

  • When talking about your own body, be kind – don’t speak negatively about it. Remember, you are a role model. Show your child that when you want to make a change to feel better about yourself, you take positive steps to create it.
  • Self-esteem reflects our self-perceptions – our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. Parents can help increase self-esteem by giving kids different opportunities to try new things, assess their likes and dislikes, and see what they are good at or not good at.  Let them fail and get back up to develop resilience. It’s in this failure and recovery that kids learn how strong and capable they are. This gives them the tools in life to believe in their own abilities.
  • Remove the scale(s) from you home. There’s no need to let a number dictate how you feel about yourself or determine what kind of day you’ll have.
  • Declare your home a “fat-free talk zone” – absolutely no negative comments about your body. No using the word “fat,” no talking about calories, shape, etc.

There’s no need to let a number on the scale dictate how you feel about yourself or determine what kind of day you’ll have.

  • Create a list of positive qualities about yourself and your child that have nothing to do with your outer appearance. Put it in a place that you will see daily, like the bathroom mirror or kitchen fridge. Add to it often.
  • You and your child can begin a daily gratitude journal together – list five things you are grateful for that day (i.e., the yummy hamburger I ate, the rainbow I saw, my time with my friend, etc.). This will train your brain to look for the good.
  • Tell your child on a regular basis what you admire, like, and respect about them. Then say out loud what you like about yourself – model being kind to yourself, too.
  • Parents can provide their kids with opportunities to experience achievement using their minds and bodies – whether it is achievement in sports/ the arts, achievement in grades, or achievement in being a kind, considerate human being. Feeling the pride of achieving something increases self-confidence.
  • Encourage and demonstrate doing activities that show that you appreciate your body – have a bubble bath, take a nap, go for a walk, wear comfortable clothes, etc.

Tell your child on a regular basis what you admire, like, and respect about them. Then say out loud what you like about yourself – model being kind to yourself, too.

  • Teach media literacy – expose your children to websites that show the truth about photo editing and all that goes into magazine covers.
  • Ask questions, such as, “why do you think they only use those models to advertise the lingerie?” Teach your kids to ‘talk back’ to the images they see in the media. Be critical.
  • Create an atmosphere of belonging. This adds to your child’s feeling of well-being, safety, and sense of self. Getting a sense from parents that what they have to say is valuable, that they are capable of problem solving within the family, and that they are an important member of the family adds to their confidence levels.
  • If your child ever says they feel fat, ask what is making them feel that way. Try to get to the underlying thoughts/emotions. It may have nothing to do with their body, but it might have to do with something stressful that happened recently.

Yes, you have a body, but it is not who you are. You are so much more.

  • Encourage and demonstrate moving your body by doing something you like – dancing, swimming, hula-hooping, biking, ice skating, etc.
  • Remind your kids regularly that every body is different. We all have different genetics. Even if we ate the same thing and did the same amount of exercise for an entire year, we would not all look the same at the end of the year. Point out the diversity of shapes and sizes there are the next time you are on transit, at the mall, etc.
  • And remember, the most powerful message you can send to your kids is: YOU ARE NOT YOUR BODY. Yes, you have a body, but it is not who you are. You are so much more.