ZisBoomBah

This is part II of ZisBoomBah’s original series “Understanding Your Child’s Body Image.”

(Read part I: Your Child’s Body Image and Social Acceptance)

In part I of ZisBoomBah’s original series “Understanding Your Child’s Body Image” we raised the question: Does a positive body image motivate a child to eat healthy and exercise?

I spoke with psychologist and ZisBoomBah advisor Beth Lonergan, PsyD, to get an answer and to hear what warning signs parents should look for to find out whether their child might have a body image problem.

As we learned from Dr. Lonergan in part I of our series on children and body image, kids don’t consciously draw a link between their own body image and eating behavior. In other words, don’t expect your 8 year old to say no to strawberry ice cream strictly because she doesn’t want to bulge out of her bikini.

In the mind of children, it is really more about things like being accepted by peers. They want to be chosen to play on the team. They want to be liked. They want to be able to do the things they want to do. If you want to motivate your child to eat healthy, it’s important that you understand what your child’s goal might be, says Dr. Lonergan. “Then,” she continues, “when a child has the experience of gee, eating right does make me feel good about myself, it does give me a strong body that’s able to do all those things, then that positive relationship is created.”

How would you know something is wrong with your child’s body image? Here is the upside: Kids generally do say something. “They are not as inhibited as adults who might not come right out with it,” says Dr. Lonergan. Listen for “disparaging remarks about themselves,” she advises. Another thing is that your child might hold back from engaging in activities and in social situations. Sometimes kids make remarks that reflect a discouraged state and sometimes they are talking directly about it, saying things like “I am fat.”

Catch 22: Childhood obesity and poor body image

“It’s complicated for kids,” our psychologist acknowledges. If kids already have weight issues or potentially even weight-related health issues, they are bound to have a poor self-image. Negative feedback, such as getting teased by peers or criticized by family, makes things worse. And here comes the catch 22: Recent studies have shown that obese kids are at a much higher risk for depression. Depressed kids are “less likely to feel like they have the self-efficacy to make a difference,” says Dr. Lonergan. In her experience, it is not uncommon to hear a kid say, “I didn’t think I could do that” after loosing a few pounds.

According to Dr. Lonergan, children really need to have that sense they can make a difference in their own life by changing behaviors. Read the concluding part of ZisBoomBah’s exclusive series “Understanding Your Child’s Body Image” and find out from our expert how to boost your child’s body image to promote positive changes in behavior.

ZisBoomBah advisor Beth Lonergan, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist with broad experience in the mental health field. As a psychologist who is balancing both research and practice, Beth is a well-versed expert in human behavior, including how people change and why they don’t – and “what makes people tick,” as she puts it herself.

Popularity: 7% [?]