How do you give young girls a healthy body image in a world of super thin stars and fast foods?

Question

My young daughters are already beginning to judge themselves by others standards at the fragile ages of 7 and 8. They are both very tall and very bright. In a world of television and inactivity how can I instill a healthy self image in them? Something that gives them girl power!

Answer 1

Talk with them about what you see. You are their biggest influence and if they hear you commenting about how it's too bad that people feel they need to dress a certain way or look a certain way to be accepted, they will internalize that and understand that what you look like is not as important as your inner beauty.

Teach them to respect their bodies and that they are the one who decide what happens to it. Telling them about their power is a big part of empowering girls, but you also need to form good habits, so be sure you don't frequent fast food joints or allow too much TV.

Emotional health leads to physcial health so teach your daughters how to take care of themselves and how it's ok to be selfish when it comes to your emotional needs.

Show your daughters examples of healthy women. We can't help our natuaral shape and there are lots of great examples of a fit and healthy women and they are hardly ever skinny. Being skinny is pleasing others' ideas of what we should look like, being fit and strong and our natural shape is being good to ourselves.

Get them involved in some sort of socially interactive physical activity (dancing, scouting, soccer, skating and other sports) and they will naturally prefer doing those sort of things over zoning out in front of TV or video games.

Peer pressure is also very strong, so be sure you are selective about who you allow your girls to hang around with. And explain to them why they should be friends with certian people as opposed to others.

I do this with my daughters and also with my son, and now they come to me with the reasons why they enjoy a certain friend's company and reasons why they don't like to be around others. It helps them to make these choices when they can verbalise them and get feedback from you.

This way, when they are in highschool and college they will be in the habit of deciding who and what is a good influence and they will hopefully make the right decisions.

Answer 2

Really, really good question:

1. COMMUNICATE to your daughter that that is only an image.
2. Join sports. Show them how developing a healthy body through diet and excercise (and education) is more attractive than anything on a magazine cover. In fact, point out that many of those actors and actresses played sports when they were her age.
3. This doesn't just go for girls. Boys have the same self-image problem. I **** you not. It may be worse b/c some boys are willing to stick themselves with steroids just to get that buffed out, hulking image, that quite frankly, most women find disgusting. Interesting but disgusting.

Answer 3

Communication is definitely key.

I know what helped me when I was growing up was that my dad used to always tell me that I would "be able to choose any man I wanted, so choose carefully". This spoke volumes for my self-esteem.

I think it's also key for them to hear from men that there are men out there who don't like stick figures. Men want to know that a woman is real and not going to break in half when the wind blows.

It is so sad how we judge ourselves based on what Hollywood would have us believe is real. And it is not real...At all.

Good luck to you. I know I have two young sisters and I am always telling them how beautiful they are. Self-Esteem is key in these cases.

Answer 4

I don't have a daughter, only a son; but I have always heard people say that getting girls involved in sports is the best thing for this problem.

Answer 5

I got my daughter into sports at a young age. She loved soccer and played it, on a coed team, for 11 years. It proved to her she was just as good, and just as valuable, as the guys were.

Answer 6

I am 15 and don't worry about what i look like at all.. Like i try to look good but don't try to look like anyone else or be something different or bettter....I think its because my mom always told me how beautiful i was growning up and i believed it and i had a "no one can touch this..i'm too cool" attitude lol but now i'm on Cross-Country and it keeps me in shape and eatin heathly and that all i care about...I eat heathly cause it makes me feel better so yea..

Answer 7

i know what you mean so many woman on TV are super skinny and you need to tell your girls that you don't need to look like that to to be beautiful and if someone does not love you the way you are then you don't need those types of people around you

Answer 8

Just love them, and limit their television time.