Promoting a Healthy Body Image
If a negative body image can lead to an eating disorder with serious consequences, then it is important for a parent to help promote a healthy body image in their teen. Although our teens are being bombarded with messages about how “imperfect” their bodies are, there are still many things parents can do to promote a positive body image.
- Be a role model. If you love your body, your teen will see that as normal and healthy. Avoid constant talk of dieting or your own “imperfections.” Your comments about yourself can be very influential in how your teen sees herself.
- Limit media messages. Although you can’t control everything your teen sees or experiences, you are influential in how much media your child is exposed to. Too much TV isn’t good for a teen for many reasons, so limiting screen time can help.
- Be a media interpreter. If you are seeing images on TV or in a magazine that promote ideas you think are damaging, talk about it with your teen. Often those images we see are greatly enhanced to remove “imperfections” -– it’s impossible for a teen to live up to a body ideal that doesn’t even exist in real life.
Getting Help
If you feel that your teen has anorexia or bulimia, do not hesitate to get help as soon as possible. Contact your pediatrician or primary care provider and discuss your concerns. Eating disorders can be complex issues and you made need the help of a mental health specialist as well as a healthcare provider in order to help your teen with the condition.
If you feel that your teen has a legitimate weight issue and is overweight or obese, again enlist the help of your health care provider. It might be helpful to talk with your provider ahead of time and ask them how they could approach the subject with your teen. When a provider discusses the weight issues with care and concern about your teen’s health, it can be an effective intervention and the first step towards a healthier lifestyle for your child.
Sources: Body Image: Loving Yourself Inside and Out. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 07 August 2008. http://www.4woman.gov/BodyImage/ Girls and Body Image. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 07 August 2008. http://family.samhsa.gov/be/gnb_image.aspx Eating Disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. 07 August 2008. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders/complete-publication.shtml Shroff, Hemal and Thompson, J. Kevin. ”Peer Influences, Body-image Dissatisfaction, Eating Dysfunction and Self-esteem in Adolescent Girls”Journal of Health Psychology2006 11(4):533-51. Statistics and Study Findings. Eating Disorder Coalition for Research, Policy and Action. 07 August 2008. http://www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org/reports/statistics.html Teenagers with Eating Disorders. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology. 07 August 2008. http://www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts%20for%20Families&name=Teenagers%20With%20Eating%20Disorders Tool Kit for Teen Care: Media and Body Image. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 07 August 2008. http://www.medem.com/search/article_display.cfm?path=%5C%5CTANQUERAY%5CM_ContentItem&mstr=/M_ContentItem/ZZZI54GLUSD.html&soc=ACOG&srch_typ=NAV_SERCH
