my 4 year old is worried about her weight..?

Question

well there is a girl in her class that is 4 years old and weights about 50 pounds.. and i think that may be an issue too.

Answer 1

If this is true, then you might want to watch what you are saying around her, or how much television she's watching. Unless it's a very innocent comment on her cute little tummy, odds are someone in the house is talking about wanting to lose weight or she's hearing it on tv.

Answer 2

Weight is not a typical subject that comes up automatically in a 4 year olds conversation. So unless she does have weight issues that the doctor has discussed with her my guess would be you have to look at her influences which would be her family, her friends at preschool or television. Whatever the culprit may be take this time to be an active listener. Try to support and validate your daughters feelings and concerns without belittling them - like oh you don't have anything to worry about - clearly she thinks she does if she is worried about something and is coming to you about it so don't squash it. Help her feel and see that she is making good healthy choices - eating properly, excersizing, ballet, daisies, sleeping well, things that will help her grow big and strong. If she has a role model find things about the role model that they have in common that they do - good deeds - focus on the positives, being a good person, a good friend, sharing, music, art, etc. Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

Children learn what they hear.

The most influential people in kids lives are there parents, closely followed by their peers. So if you make comments about weight, or your partener does then you could be contributing to this. However what other parents say to their kids influences them, and they of course repeat it. Kids also repeat what they do not understand or troubles them.

It is very hard, but very important that you work on this to try and give your daughter the best self-image you can. It is important that she sees that appearance is different than worth of a person.

Consider very carefully the messages that your daughter picks up from you, and the rest of her family as well as any commercials and tv shows she watches. Kids pick up more on unconcious comments around then than what you sit down and tell them. That doesn't mean it isn't worth discussing things with her, but your overall environment is the most important.

Answer 4

A four year old? Wow. I have to ask, not be rude, but do you have a body image issue? If you are saying things around her or she is hearing it from television, then she will likely pick up on it. 4 year olds are sponges. Try not to make negative comments about weight and tell her that she is perfect the way she is, and should not be worrying about her weight at that age. Teach her about being healthy, eating properly and exercising. For her exercising would be very simplistic and fun, like playing with you outside, or playing on the jungle gym at the park.

Answer 5

Tell her that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and they're all a wonderful manifestation of God (or skip the last part if it doesn't work for you).

Let her know, too, that the most important thing is to eat healthy foods and get plenty of play time - her weight will take care of itself and go exactly where it's supposed to be.

Answer 6

Good responses. I would add only that the child's teacher needs to know what your child thinks and what you've told her so the teacher can reinforce the idea that weight is not an issue.

Answer 7

its a sad fact that half of SIX YEAR OLD girls think they need to lose weight, and half of TWELVE year olds have already tried to 'diet'. i think you need to be careful about what she is listening to from the media and always reassure her that her weight is fine, reinforce healthy female stereotypes in your household and never, ever, make derogatory comments about ANYONES weight whilst she is in earshot, as she will come to believe that being overweight disgusts you and should be avoided to the point of obsession

Answer 8

No offence, but this is usually a result of what mom thinks or says about herself and/or what others specifically say to the child about her weight

Answer 9

You need to talk to her about what it means to be healthy. She is listening to someone talk about weight issues & possibly telling her she needs to lose weight. You need to reassure her that she should only be worried about learning to read and how much time she gets to play outsiede. keep her away from television...mainly adult progamming.

Answer 10

she probably learned this from you, so you should really try hard not to say anything about weight issues around her since it is obvious she loves you and really pays attention to everything you say (even if you dont think she is paying attention) Kids are great about that lol...its really important that you teach your daughter to have a good self image, and also a wonderful thing to teach yourself :)