If you’ve had an ‘I hate my body moment’ today, you’re not alone.
A recent survey showed 87 per cent of Kiwi women suffer from negative body image thoughts. The results also showed almost half the women surveyed have avoided wearing certain clothes and situations where they might have to wear togs.
Body positivity issues can be especially hard for mothers trying not to pass on their own concerns to their children.
NEXT spoke with Meg Rayner-Thomas, body image health promoter at Women’s Health Action, to discuss how you can flip negative self-dialogue on its head for the good of you and your kids.
How would you describe a body confidence issue?
Feeling preoccupied and critical about your body’s real and perceived attractiveness, health, acceptability and abilities.
Do you have any tips for how you can broach the subject of body confidence with your daughter?
Creating body confidence in young people really begins at birth and continues throughout life. It’s important to model body-positive behaviour for children, such as avoiding negative self-talk and being critical of how other people look. Young people need to see the adults in their lives celebrate the diversity of bodies and supporting ideas, products and media that are inclusive.
One of the best ways to start a conversation is to ask questions about what they see in the world around them and why they think the people they see on TV, movies, and social media are portrayed the way they are. What messages are those images trying to convey? Teaching media literacy is incredibly valuable.
How can we help if a child has low body confidence?
It depends on the severity of the low confidence issue. We stress open and non-judgemental communication and developing media literacy. Always be willing to refer to an expert and get help if there is disordered eating involved.
What are some ways mothers treat and refer to their bodies that their daughters are at risk of imitating?
We know in New Zealand about a third of young women and 16 per cent of young men report they have been teased about their weight by family members. It is really important that parents avoid making a young person’s body the focus of attention.
It is also really important that adults avoid diet talk, negative body talk or focusing on the attributes of themselves or others they think they need to change.
At what age do children start to develop body confidence issues?
There is research showing children as young as three are concerned about becoming fat.
Which body confidence issues are most prevalent in children?
Concerns about weight, athletic ability, skin, hair and fitting in with their peers.
Is the number of children with body confidence issues growing?
There is evidence poor body image is an increasing concern for young people. There are likely a lot of reasons contributing to this. However, the constant flow of images they see in social media and entertainment, the increasing attention being given to the obesity epidemic, and social expectations, all likely play a part.
Women’s Health Action is a social change organisation with a programme that aims to improve body image among young people.
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