Body Image and Children

1
Body Image and Children

• Creating a Body Friendly Environment

Current Issues Influencing Factors Body
Dissatisfaction Overall Personal Wellbeing
York Region Health Services, December 2002
2
Workshop Outline

• Introduction - Current Issues
• Factors Influencing Body Image
• Body Image Continuum
• Parents - Overall Personal Well Being
• Create a Body Friendly Environment
• Conclusion

3
Body Image Dissatisfaction of Respondents Who
Do Not Like How Their Body Looks
Halton Region - October 2001
4
Fear of Fat of Respondents Who are Afraid of
Becoming Fat or Fatter
Halton Region - October 2001
5
Weight Control Behaviours of Respondents Who
Skip Meals A Lot to All the Time
Halton Region - October 2001
6
Weight Control Behaviours of Respondents Who
Avoid Eating When Hungry
Halton Region - October 2001
7
Weight Control Behaviours of Respondents Who
Are Trying to Lose Weight
Halton Region - October 2001
8
Weight Control Behaviours of Respondents Who
Are Trying to Gain Weight
Halton Region - October 2001
9
Frequency of Exercise of Frequency of Exercise
Halton Region - October 2001
10
Body Image Dissatisfaction

• 27 of girls 12 - 18 years reported disordered
  attitudes about food
• 20 of these girls were 12 - 14 years
• dieting was the most prevalent weight loss
  strategy
• 12 of girls 12 - 14 report binge-eating and 5
  report self-induced vomiting
• Jennifer Jones, Disordered eating attitudes and
  behaviours in teenaged girls a school based
  study 2001

11
Factors Influencing Body Image

• Society and the Media
• Peers
• Puberty and Adolescence
• Role Models - Parents, Family(heredity) Teachers,
  and Coaches

12
Influence of Society

• Prior to the 20th Century
• Roaring 20s
• 1950s
• 1960s
• 1970s - 1980s
• 1990s - 2000 -

13
Influence of the Media

• Media plays a major role in everyone's life
• Media delivers the message that thin is in
• Media promise of what your life will be like if
  you are a certain type

14
Influence of the Media

• Media creates a distorted image of reality
• normalizes glamorizes what is a abnormal
• creates false impression that all women and men
  are the same
• sends the message that one must continually
  improve and is never good enough
• uses technology to alter and create an image

15
Influence of Peers

• Influence of friends increases
• Emphasis on fitting in and being alike
• Self absorbed
• Focus girls - how they look
• boys - what they can do

16
Influence of Puberty

• Girls
• natural weight gain necessary for shifts away
  from society's ideal body shape
• Boys
• natural weight gain shifts towards society's
  ideal body shape
• Developmental tasks of adolescence

17
Influence of Role Models

• Adults influence a childs body image through
  their words and actions by
• being critical of ones own body and appearance
• focusing on appearance rather than ability and
  behaviours
• using numbers i.e. BMI, body fat, size, weight
  as a measure of health or success
• encouraging the concept of one ideal body type

18
Influence of Role Models - family

• Connectedness - term used to describe how youth
  feel about their social environment, including
  relationships with friends, family and the school
  environment.
• Positive contributes to

19
Body Image Continuum

• Body/Self Body Image Weight
  Compulsive/ Anorexia/
• Acceptance Dissatisfaction
  Preoccupation/ Emotional Bulimia/
• Yo-Yo
  Dieting/ Eating Binge Eating
• Disorder
• Adapted from chart prepared by Carla
  Rice, 1995

20
Body Image Dissatisfaction

• May lead to unhealthy eating
• behaviours as means to cope with
• stress, anxiety, emotions and family problems
• fears of not measuring up to the unnatural images
  presented in the media
• pressure from parents and coaches
• a fear of becoming fat

21
Why be Concerned?

• Disordered eating affects learning outcomes
• All ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic groups are
  affected
• Seen in younger children, although we are more
  aware

22
Promote Overall Personal Well-Being

• Promote Healthy Eating
• Promote Physical Activity
• Self-Esteem and Feeling Good About Yourself
• education
• validation
• acceptance
• reassurance

23
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Help understand their change in appearance
• talk about how their body is changing (puberty)
• that changes occur at different rates and times
• cannot influence DNA or metabolism
• Be a positive role model
• be aware of your own dieting behaviours
• think about comments - people of different
  sizes
• consider complements you make

24
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Banish teasing
• juding people by size or weight is unacceptable -
  cannot control these elements
• do not associate size with personality, such as
  overweight are lazy or out of control and
  thin are happy and successful
• Encourage children to advocate for themselves
• teach skills to respond to comments make about
  appearance

25
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Show unconditional love
• discuss what makes a good friend, neighbour or
  student
• value each child for unique abilities
• Talk about insides rather than outsides
• focus on what qualities are important
• focus on the process not the end result
• avoid using labels of fat, skinny, hippy

26
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Read between the lines
• stop and listen when children use statements such
  as I am so fat
• encourage them to talk about what they did at
  school
• Watch the pitch
• critique the messages of the media
• discuss the goals behind advertizing
• share principles of computer alteration

27
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Take the focus away from numbers
• do not discuss weight, BMI, size of clothes
• talk about how a healthy body, fueled by healthy
  food and exercise, works best
• Resist any temptation to put a child on a diet
• 95 of people who lose weight regain it in 1-5
  years
• encourage eating differently (CFG), not less

28
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Make mealtimes pleasant and nutritious
• parent provides what (food) and when (meal and
  snack times)
• child determines what (peas vs. carrots) and how
  much
• encourage children to respond to normal cues of
  being full and being hungry
• make mealtimes fun and relaxing
• remember there are no good or bad foods
• do not use food as a punishment or reward

29
Create a Body Friendly Environment

• Explore different types of activities
• role model a healthy lifestyle, such as walking,
  fitness
• share physical activity with your children
• learn a new skill or hobby with your child
• encourage physical activity vs. participation in
  team sports
• emphasize enjoyment vs. achievement

30
Create a Body Friendly Environment