These days, the idea of a “perfect body” is consuming both us and our kids. There are plenty of images that dictate to our kids how a perfect body should be. Without any regard for health or well-being. Especially through social media outlets like Instagram or TikTok. Therefore, it is important for mums to teach their kids, especially their daughters, how to love themselves and their bodies. And how to develop a positive body image.
We believe that teaching our daughters to have a positive body image is important. That is why we give you 10 tips to help you do so!
10 Tip to Help Daughters Have a Positive Body Image
1| Be a role model.
Kids tend to mirror their parents. That also includes how they look at themselves. If you keep criticizing your body harshly, then your daughter will do the same. That is why, you should start having a positive body image on your own in order to teach it to your daughter. Boosting this through loving your own body will plant it within your daughter mentality. In addition, you need to be a role model for your little girl. And by showing her you love yourself as you are. She will be able to lean on you when it comes to loving her own body.
2| Focus on achievements more than appearances.
Complimenting looks and appearances is good. But we should not overdo it, because it might make little girls obsess over it. The best way to give compliments is to connect it to what they can achieve. For example, tell your little girl she has great legs for swimming. Compliment her by pointing out what she can achieve more than how she looks. This will boost her confidence and encourage her to take up all sorts of physical activities. You will also teach her that her body is strong and capable of doing so much. Moreover, this will help her understand that the beauty standards floating around us aren’t fixed.
3| Encourage diversity.
While unrealistic perfect bodies and beauty floats around us through social media. There are plenty of influences who encourage positive body images for their viewers. Look up those celebrities and influences and introduce them to your daughter. Teach her to embrace diversity, and that beauty comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes.
4| Teach your daughter that all sizes are beautiful.
The foundation of a positive body image is to love one’s body as it is. Whether it is skinny, curvy, tall, short, or however. Explain to her that all sizes are beautiful. And every body shape has its own unique beauty features. No size is “prettier” than the other. This will help her love her body and appreciate other people’s bodies. This will help you raise a daughter with a positive body image, who is also respectful to others.
5| Reinforce self-love.
Building your daughter’s confidence is quite the challenge. There are many wrong beauty standards enforced by society that make girls seek being overly skinny for instance. Which might lead to big issues like eating disorders or body dysmorphia. Many studies show that many girls are negatively influenced by their surroundings. That they tend to use unhealthy means to reach a certain body weight. And this applies to girls from a young age, sometimes even younger than 10 years old.
Therefore, it is our job as mums to push our girls to love and accept themselves. Love your daughter without attaching this love to her looks or body size. This positive habit will boost her confidence and help her express herself easily to you.
6| Build a healthy relationship with food.
Children are often conflicted by commercials promoting fast foods one minute, and perfect skinny bodies or diets the next. This conflict makes it hard for them to build a healthy relationship with food. It also makes it harder for them to obtain healthy eating habits. And here comes our role as parents. We should discuss bad foods with our kids, and why we should avoid them. As we should not offer them constantly. Treat your kids to fast food once a month, but not more. Teaching them to eat everything in moderation is key to building a positive body image.
Moreover, always offer a healthy and balanced meal at home. Explain to your kids why they need to eat healthy. Include how nutrients and vitamins help make them stronger and healthier. Building healthy eating habits always starts from home, so we must start right.
7| Do NOT obsess over her eating habits.
Teenage girls tend to eat more than usual. That is mainly due to the hormonal changes their bodies are going through. You might notice that your daughter is snacking more than usual. And you must handle that correctly. First, do not throw negative comments her way. Avoid saying “you ate too much” or “enough eating”. As such comments will hurt her deeply and ruin her relationship with food. Second, try to always provide healthy and nutritious snacks at home. And finally, keep a conversation going with your daughter on healthy eating habits.
8| Teach her how to care for her body.
Societies tend to shame girls for their bodies. But they never put in the effort to teach them how to care for themselves. So, that falls on us mums to do. We must teach our kids how to care for themselves both mentally and physically. How? Through teaching your daughter to look after her body. You can do so by encouraging her to exercise, get regular doctor checkups, and eating healthy. Keep in mind that it is never too early to begin. As children must learn such habits so they can stick with them for the long run.
9| Encourage exercise and workout.
Physical activity is essential to building healthy bodies. Let your daughter try all sorts of sports and workouts until she finds something she truly loves and enjoys. It can be running, gymnastics, skating, or anything else. Also, you can sign up at a gym and bond over working out together.
We must teach our kids that exercise is fun from an early age. Having physical activity as a part of their routine helps them build healthier bodies and mentalities.
10| Keep her on the right track.
As we mentioned before, we are surrounded by unrealistic beauty standards. And sometimes, they are unavoidable. Therefore, it falls on us to keep our kids on the right track. To help them be less negatively influenced by these standards. Also, we should correct any wrong information on “perfect bodies”, dieting, working out, and perfect body weight. And finally, teaching our kids to have positive body images has two sides. One, to reinforce self-love and acceptance. And two, not judging anyone else by their body size or shape. And that is how we raise children who embrace difference and diversity.
