Having difficulty with your body image is not an uncommon thing, and it isn’t surprising considering how ideals of beauty are represented throughout the media. Despite there being more diversity now than there was ten years ago, a lot of young adults and even grown adults still struggle to feel comfortable with their positive looks.
For some people, this lack of confidence can leave them fearing social events and developing unhealthy habits and disorders that are very harmful to their well-being. If you have a teenager at home or a younger child that is struggling with their body image, here are a few things that you can do to help.
Try Not to Comment on Their Appearance
Telling your kid that they are beautiful is a positive thing, and while complements like this can do some good, they might not always be as helpful as you might think. When someone is feeling self-conscious about their looks, it could be better to avoid commenting on their appearance altogether. Instead, focus on their other great qualities, such as their compassion, intelligence, and their skills and talents.
Moving the focus onto these qualities can help to build their self-esteem differently and remind them that it isn’t all about how they look. The more confident they feel in themselves, hopefully, the more confident they will become with their body image in time as well.
Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle in the Home
An essential part of being body-positive is encouraging a healthy lifestyle. This doesn’t mean making people feel bad for not having a gym membership or judged if they decided to eat a candy bar as an afternoon snack instead of an apple. A healthy lifestyle should be balanced, and making sure that your family is eating nutritious meals for the majority of the time and engaging in some sort of exercise daily is part of this.
If possible, consider walking your kids to school or going on a family hike at the weekend. You should also ask what kind of physical activity they enjoy for fun, as this is a good way to keep them active without it feeling like boring exercise or a suggestion that they should be working out. Doing these things will help you all maintain a healthy weight, no matter your natural shape or size, as well as give you all an important, natural endorphin boost.
Limit Screen Time
Another thing that is a big cause of low body image and confidence for the younger generation is what they see on social media and the internet. While there is a lot of positive content on there, there is also a lot of damaging content that can make people feel as though they are unattractive for whatever reason.
While this might not always be easy to keep under control, try implementing a screen time limit at home so your kids get a break from these platforms where they might be seeing this kind of content.
Get Specialist Help
It’s also worth turning to experts for help if you are concerned about the well-being of your child or teenager. They can give you further advice on how you can help at home, but also provide direct support to your teenager.
Igniteteentreatment.com is a great example of the kind of service available to help young adults with a range of issues, including body image. This kind of support will be essential to help your teenager feel happier, confident, and accepting of their looks.
Taking Action Can Help
Struggles with body image are not uncommon and can affect anyone at any age. However, it does tend to be more prevalent with young adults, and if you are a parent or guardian who is concerned about this, use these tips and see how they could help.