Mum, I Feel Fat!

It’s never too early to start helping your child build a healthy body image.

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Hearing a teenager complain about how fat she feels isn’t unusual, but when the remark comes from a seven-year-old, it can be quite a shock.

Unfortunately, today’s obsession with being super thin is taking root earlier and earlier in childhood. Unrealistic expectations about what a body should look like not only lead to bad eating habits, but they’re emotionally damaging, too. And these unhappy and self-conscious kids, like adults with negative body images, report more frequent feelings of depression, insecurity and anxiety. They’re also more prone to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

The key to thwarting goals that are unhealthy, if not impossible to attain, is for parents and teachers to counter the images that bombard kids. And it’s probably never too early to monitor information kids are exposed to in the media, to become aware of your own biases, and to establish realistic and healthy expectations. You can change the way your child thinks about her – or his – body before misconceptions and harmful behaviour patterns become firmly entrenched in them.