Enhance Your Child’s Body Image

 Do you ever worry about how your children view themselves and their body image? With all the Photoshop enhanced body images out there on magazines, it’s very easy for children to have a misconception about what a ‘normal’ body is.

 As children enter the awareness years between 10-12 years of age, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open and help guide them as to what is real and what isn’t.

 Research shows that children are becoming increasingly concerned about their bodies at a younger age.  In the UK, 75% of girls 11-21 diet to make themselves look better; 20% of eating disorders are connected to males.

 The UK government has recognised that these formative years of emotional development need help and have recently launched through Media Smart, a not-for-profit organization, a parent’s pack to help extend children's body image education into the home.

Aimed at 10-12 year olds, the Body Image Parent Pack aims to help promote positive self-esteem among children, by encouraging parents and children to think critically about the images they see in the media and understand that they are not necessarily achievable.

How children perceive their bodies in these early years often has major repercussions on how they view themselves when they reach maturity. Their perception, through advertising, that a ‘perfect’ body exists, can often lead to unrealistic expectations for themselves, adding pressure on them both mentally and physically. It can affect their eating habits, their mental state, their relationships with themselves and others.

Discussing these concepts with your children, whether they are boys or girls, is helpful  in safeguarding your children’s self-esteem, by ensuring they understand that most celebrity images have been altered in order to make them more appealing.

To access your free download Body Image Parent Pack, click here.