Daughters look up to their mothers in many ways. If a parent is obsessed with dieting, then a girl is more lively to be self-conscience of her body as she enters teen years. Parents are especially important in creating a good relationship between their children and the food they eat. It is never okay to tell a child that she would be prettier if she lost some weight, or that she was fat. If I child does need to change eating habits, do it with them. It would also be helpful to participate in physical activity with them or to encourage any form of physical activity that they do like to do.
According to womenshealth.gov, here are a few steps a parent can follow to encourage a child to have a healthy relationship with food.
- Make sure that a child knows that gaining weight is normal, especially while going through puberty
- Avoid negative comments about weight, body shape, and food
- Allow a child to make their own decisions about food, but provide nutritious varieties to choose from
- Always compliment a child on their achievements
- Restrict television viewing
- Keep lines of communication open
I just read a really interesting article the other day about how big of an effect mothers have. It's not only in how you treat your daughter regarding food and body size, but how you act about yourself too...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030201756.html
I really think that this is so true. As a health major it is interesting to see how similar my eating habits and body image are similar to my mothers.
ReplyDeleteParents have to be the example for their kids in everything they do! Monkey see, monkey do. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think it's so important that parents set a good example for their kids. If a parent is always worried about how he or she looks the child is going to pick up on and adopt that behavior. It's definitely something we all should watch out for.
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