No More Negatives

This post is for all the people who have a child that looks up to them in their lives.

I have seen a lot of media focus on how widespread negative body image is these days. How did this happen? Where did this come from? Is it all due to the media? I'm sorry to say I think not.

As parents and mentors I feel that the adults of our society have a lot to do with how our children are starting to view their bodies. Studies have consistently shown that behaviors such as physical abuse, alcoholism, and drug abuse are behaviors that are passed down generations. Why would negative body image be any different?

We talk negatively about our bodies in front of our children. When our children hear us complain, they project those feelings on to their own bodies.

We fad diet. Instead of focusing on eating healthier, we deprive ourselves to lose weight, showing our kids that to be healthy we must sacrifice, instead of finding enjoyment in healthy foods.

We don't exercise with our kids. Our kids are watching us. If they see that we hate exercising, how can we expect them to choose to when they are given the option not to?

We discuss weight with our kids. Kids come in all shapes and sizes. They change as they grow, and just because a child is one shape or size right now does not necessarily mean that will be the case in the future. Under no circumstances should you ever point out a child's weight problems. Children are not equipped to handle responsibility for their health until they are older. If you have a child in your life that has a weight problem, instead of pointing out what's wrong, push the solution. Provide the child with lots of healthy food choices and make sure they see you enjoying them. Make sure they see you exercising and let them know you want them to join in the fun. Don't tell them they have to exercise and eat right so they won't be fat anymore, just encourage them to eat healthy foods because they are good and make you feel good. Encourage them to exercise because it is lots of fun. If you make their weight a responsibility you may be making a recipe for disaster when they hit their teens and the time to rebel comes along.

Now, I'm not putting all the blame on us parents. Media does have a thing or two to do with how our kids see the world. But it's not enough for us to just say "oh that's horrible" and then obsess over that piece of bread we ate 2 hours ago and how it will hit our hips like a ton of bricks. Because you can be sure our kids are listening, and chances are the things we say stick, whether we know it or not.