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Bikini Babies
Preteens and Summer Body Image
By Carma Haley
According to Shepard, a majority of the influence young girls receive comes directly from the home. These girls learn what is important regarding beauty, weight and body image based on how these qualities are valued by their own parents. "The best thing a parent can do is to have a healthy body image themselves," Shepard says. "If there is no overdoing of anything, such as dieting, and not too much emphasis is placed on beauty, the child will learn that these things are secondary to the person they are or are becoming."
"My daughter first started making negative comments about her appearance when she was 13," says Karen Jenista of Colorado Springs, Colo. "She is always checking herself in the mirror, trying to wear the smallest size she can squeeze into and weighing herself. I have tried to concentrate on complimenting her whenever possible – without making a direct reference to weight – and trying to be very conscious of how I speak about my own body around her."
By incorporating small, simple changes in communication, parents can decrease the risk of their child developing an unhealthy body image and help them learn to love themselves just as they are.
"Healthy lifestyle and positive esteem are the most important factors in keeping a child healthy and well rounded," Shepard says. "Taking the focus off of beauty and placing it on what makes them a good person will show a child that they are valuable, accepted and loved, regardless of how they see themselves on the outside."