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Get more body image information for your daughter from girlshealth.gov.

Body image and your kids

• Your body image plays a role in theirs
• Help your child have a healthy body image
• More information on body image and your kids

Your body image plays a role in theirs

"On a diet, you can't eat." That is what one 5- year-old girl had to say in a study on girls' ideas about dieting. This and other research has shown that daughters are more likely to have ideas about dieting when their mothers diet. Children pick up on comments about dieting concepts that may seem harmless, such as limiting high-fat foods or eating less. Yet, as girls enter their teen years, having ideas about dieting can lead to problems. Many things can spark weight concerns for girls and impact their eating habits in potentially unhealthy ways:

• Having mothers concerned about their own weight
• Having mothers who are overly concerned about their daughters' weight and looks
• Natural weight gain and other body changes during puberty
• Peer pressure to look a certain way
• Struggles with self-esteem
• Media images showing the ideal female body as thin

Many teenage girls of average weight think they are overweight and are not satisfied with their bodies. Having extreme weight concerns — and acting on those concerns — can harm girls' social, physical, and emotional growth. Actions such as skipping meals or taking diet pills can lead to poor nutrition and difficulty learning. For some, extreme efforts to lose weight can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. For others, the pressure to be thin can actually lead to binge eating disorder: overeating that is followed by extreme guilt. What's more, girls are more likely to further risk their health by trying to lose weight in unhealthy ways, such as smoking.

Although not as common, boys are also at risk of developing unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders. Body image becomes an important issue for teenage boys as they struggle with body changes and pay more attention to media images of the "ideal" muscular male.

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Help your child have a healthy body image

Your children pay attention to what you say and do — even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. If you are always complaining about your weight or feel pressure to change your body shape, your children may learn that these are important concerns. If you are attracted to new "miracle" diets, they may learn that restrictive dieting is better than making healthy lifestyle choices. If you tell your daughter that she would be prettier if she lost weight, she will learn that the goals of weight loss are to be attractive and accepted by others.

Parents are role models and should try to follow the healthy eating and physical activity patterns that you would like your children to follow — for your health and theirs. Extreme weight concerns and eating disorders, as well as obesity, are hard to treat. Yet, you can play an important role in preventing these problems for your children.

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More information on body image and your kids

Read more from womenshealth.gov

• BodyWorks: A Toolkit for Healthy Teens and Strong Families — This program is designed to help parents and caregivers of teens improve family eating and activity patterns. The toolkit gives parents tools to make small, specific behavior changes to stop obesity and help maintain a healthy weight.
  http://www.womenshealth.gov/bodyworks/

Explore other publications and websites

• Binge Eating Disorder (Copyright © Nemours Foundation) — This publication describes binge eating disorder, its symptoms, and its possible complications.
  http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/binge_eating.html
• Body Image: How Parents Can Help (Copyright © Boston Women's Health Book Collective) — This website gives tips for parents who want to boost their daughters' body image and promote a healthy self-image.
  http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=1&compID=5
• Eating Disorders (Copyright © Nemours Foundation) — This online publication for parents and caregivers explains the warning signs of eating disorders and what you should do if you think your child may have an eating disorder.
  http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/weight_eating_problems/eating_disorders.html#cat20743
• Girlshealth.gov: For Parents and Caregivers — This site gives adolescent girls information about some of the health and social issues they will face during the teen years. The Parent/Caregiver section provides resources and links to helpful information for adults.
  http://www.girlshealth.gov/parents/
• Helping Your Overweight Child — This publication gives information on how to help your child lose weight, eat healthier, and be more active.
  http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/over_child.htm
• NEDA Educator's Toolkit (Copyright © National Eating Disorders Association) — This toolkit for parents and teachers has information about body image and eating disorders. It gives parents and school staff tips for communicating and helping students with eating disorders.
  http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/information-resources/educator-toolkit.php
• Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (Copyright © American Psychological Association) — This report explores how sexualized images of girls and young women in the media affects girls in real life.
  http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx
• Ten Things Parents Can Do to Prevent Eating Disorders (Copyright © National Eating Disorders Association) — This fact sheet lists ten things parents can do to promote positive body image in their children. It gives tips to help you educate your children about eating disorders and teach them to accept all body shapes and sizes, including their own.
  http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/nedaDir/files/documents/handouts/10Parent.pdf

Connect with other organizations

• American Association of Orthodontists
  http://www.braces.org/
• Confidence Coalition
  http://www.confidencecoalition.org/
• Just Think Foundation
  http://www.justthink.org/
• KidsHealth
  http://kidshealth.org/
• Mind on the Media
  http://www.motm.org/
• National Eating Disorders Association
  http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  http://www.samhsa.gov/

Content last updated September 22, 2009.

Resources last updated September 22, 2009.

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