80% Of Ten-Year-Olds Have Dieted: Holly Willard on ABC 4 News
ABC 4 news Body ImageBody-image issues are more widespread than ever and effecting children at a much younger age. 80-percent of American 10-year-old girls have been on a diet, according to a recent study from upworthy.com.
Ways to combat body obsession in young girls
1. Model a healthy body imageBe aware of your negative comments about your own body and the impact they could be making on your children. Acknowledge that your behavior and that you are working on focusing on the positive.2. Teach the importance of health and nutrition vs. weight and size3. Inform your children about the lies that media and advertisements use. Explain photoshop and that advertisers what us to feel bad about ourselves so we will buy their products.4. Focus on giving more compliments about their intelligence and personality than their appearance.5. Be careful about teasing. Don't joke about their weight or body type. A young child may be fine with the comments but as they get older it affects them differently.6. Be aware of judgements that you make about other people's bodies. This is especially important regarding negative comments about your partner's physical appearance.