WORDS: Georgie Thomas, Founder of Body Image Rewritten
What can we be doing as parents to help with this?
Communication and the aim for body neutrality is key when it comes to talking to teens and tweens. They copy a lot of your behaviours and mimic your belief systems. Although you may feel like they are not watching, they are legitimate sponges and pick up on things you don’t even expect.
So the first important place to check is within your own belief system…how are you honestly feeling about yourself and your body? Are the thoughts you have the same as what you want your children to have?
The next step is to follow these steps that help remove negative triggers for someone struggling with body image:
- Get rid of the scales in the house. Unless you are a boxer, jockey or need it for medication there is no need to have scales in your house. They only cause a downward spiral and increase negative self-talk
- Get rid of any clothing that no longer fits/feels comfortable. Take your tween or teen out for a shop and get excited about some new clothes to replace the old ones. If clothes are too tight or uncomfortable, this can be a trigger that sets off negative beliefs
- Do a social media clean up. Of course you might love to keep them off socials for as long as possible but how long is that realistic for? It is best to foster open communication about social media. Ask if there is anyone they follow that makes them feel negatively about themselves. See if they are open to unfollowing or muting them for a week or two as an experiment to see if that helps how they feel about themselves. Also see if they can find some people on social media who promote positivity and confidence to flood their feed. If they are old enough, watching the Social Dilemma on Netflix is a great way for teenagers to see the effects of social media and how it can change your psychology
- Be conscious of how you talk about other bodies and call out when other people are making negative comments to show that it’s not right. Instead focus on people’s qualities, what makes them a great human and their best characteristics
- Know that you don’t need to feel positive about your body every day. Aim to feel neutral, neither positive or negative. Understand its normal for bodies to fluctuate day to day, week to week, month to month and through different life events
If you feel as though you have areas to work on within your own mindset, check out my Instagram @georgiethomas and watch my free workshop on how to start rewriting your mindset and this will create not only huge changes for yourself but to your children too.
Love, Georgie
xoxo
For more information:
bodyimagerewritten.com