Here at QCMB we strive to bring you a broad spectrum of resources, events, articles, etc. We are starting a new series called Discussion Point, where we will be posting a topic and then we want to hear from you and your thoughts on it.
Today is BODY IMAGE for our children. The above picture is thought provoking and I am sure many of us can relate to it.
How as parents can we make sure that our children have a healthy body image?
How is society forming body image for our children?
What are your thoughts and/or opinions on this picture?
I saw this post the other day and have been thinking about it. Fact is when I first saw the photo my initial response was “ugh” and an eye roll. As a mom, who has been struggling with my weight since having my children, and a mom of three girls this topic is all too real for me. I think the frustrating part for me is this society putting so much emphasis on body image. The media attacks any celebrity for any weight gain and is vicious about it, and that carries down to us, if we choose to be judgmental over those that are overweight which our kids hear and it really becomes ingrained in them-skinny=healthy, fat=unhealthy. My daughter’s get ingrained with it at school. My youngest daughter in preschool last year came home crying saying that her teacher told them that if you’re fat you’re going to die. As I said above, weight is my struggle, so my daughter literally thought I was going to die. I was broken for her, and angry that this is even portrayed that way in the school. My older daughter’s are also hearing constantly that getting fat, being obese is going to happen if they eat a candy bar. I’m not opposed to teaching kids the dangers of overeating, and I understand the obesity in this country( and I do mean the seriously overweight, I actually hate the word obese and feel it is horribly overused and being taken way too far)is getting worse and affecting our kids. What I want to see is a attitude of food=fuel. What foods are going to fuel you, what foods are going to limit you? Exercise is important and you should do it daily. All that to say, not everyone is going to be a size 0, and skinny people can be unhealthy. What goes in your body impacts your whole body, your blood, arteries, etc.not just the size of your jeans. I try to teach my girls(and my son even though he is small) about eating healthy, exercising, and loving who they are, made in the image of God. I’m not the perfect example to them,, but they see me working at it, they also encourage me, and I hope that as they get older, especially the teen years, that it will not be a huge struggle for them.
Laura, I loved your response here. One of the things we have struggled with is Mia’s size. She is a “big” girl. And by that I mean at 3 years old she is a head taller than most of her friends and probably about 15 pounds heavier. She wears a size 5/6 clothing and a size 12 shoe. Thankfully she has not noticed the size difference yet, and honestly I hope she never does. I always want her to be proud of her body and love who she is, something I have struggled with for years. I have found myself lately needing to watch my words as I often refer to her as a “big” girl. I never want her to think those are bad words or a dig against her beautiful body! On the other hand having a boy I feel like we (society) is always wanting them to be bigger, stronger, faster. So while some hope their girls are tiny, and petite, others are hoping their boys are beefy and tall. It’s sad how much pressure society places and things that truly we can not control. Yes, I know I can control the meals I make or the snacks I give, but I can not control their body type, how their body will process food, how tall they wil be or the color of their eyes. All I can do is reassure them they are beautifully and wonderfully made.
I also meant to say about Mia that she is not fat, she is just big. I am 5’8″, Josh is 5’10″ and our sisters are both almost 6′. She is strong and tall. She will be a tall girl.
This one hits close to home big time! I can’t remember when I haven’t been on a diet of some type and have always been very self conscious about my weight or body image since I was very young. I remember having unhealthy eating issues and trying to diet as early as 4th grade!! I had recently started wondering how this all started and I have finally figured out it could have been many surrounding things but all comes back to the negative comments that were made about how I was gaining weight or shouldn’t be that big from parental figures in my life. I would never ever do the same to my children after what it has done to me, but I am realizing that my kids seeing me obsess every day and weighing myself every morning is not good for them whatsoever. The picture of the little girl on the scale makes me cringe and sad, but then again my girls run over when I weigh myself and want to get on too and that just makes me sick thinking I am ingraining into their minds that they need to be obsessive about their outward appearance. I am really going to have to work hard on figuring out a happy medium with them, because I want them to be healthy and not be part of the growing problem of childhood obesity, but I definitely don’t want them to develop the eating issues and body image problems that I have lived with for the last 20 years.
Heather,
I was just curious on how you personally deal with Mia’s size. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. My 5 year old daughter was born at 2lbs so her entire first 4 years revolved around getting her more calories. She has now “caught up” and I constantly worry about her gaining “too much” weight. I of course want her to be comfortable at any size she is and realize she is beautiful no matter what size she is but I don’t want her to struggle with the insecurity I did because of my weight. I say absolutely nothing right now to ever come off as a critique or criticism but a part of me cringes inside every time my blissfully unaware husband offers her more junk food. I’m just wondering if other moms out there feel this way and if so what do they, if anything, say or do about it? Or, if I should just try to instill as much confidence in her and let it go.