embody Skip to content

How to Raise Children in a Diet-Obsessed World

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Blog

How to Raise Children in a Diet-Obsessed World

Challenging diet culture and normalising all body shapes are integral to our children’s mental health

In an ideal world, our children would be free to grow up in a society that fosters positive relationships with food and their bodies. Unfortunately, warped body image and food beliefs have a way of creeping into the psyches of people of all ages. With 50% of children aged 8 to 13 years old wanting to lose weight, it’s difficult to know how to protect our most vulnerable and allow them to arrive in adulthood unscathed by diet culture.1 This blog article will provide you with some steps you can take to make your child’s environment that little bit safer!

ONE – Set boundaries

A great place to start when it comes to protecting children from diet culture-driven messaging is by setting boundaries around the way other people speak in front of your children.

For example, you might bar any kind of diet or body-related talk in your household. Research has shown that children’s dieting and weight concerns are learned primarily from their family and that ‘fat talk’ (aka negative body- and weight-related conversation) is associated with poor body image in adolescents.1-4

If a visitor makes a comment in front of your child that crosses this boundary, it can feel really challenging to address it when you’re worried about making the other person uncomfortable! Try having a generic response that you can rehearse for when the moment comes – some ideas are:

  • We are trying to teach our children not to make comments about other people’s bodies/eating habits and we’d love it if you could help us with this
  • We really want our home to be a safe space for our children, so we try to avoid conversations about food/bodies that aren’t constructive for them
  • It’s really important to us for our children to have a positive relationship with food and their bodies, so let’s continue this conversation when we’re alone

You might also like to reach out to your child’s teachers and doctor, for example, and let them know that they are welcome to contact you privately if they have concerns about your child’s weight or diet but that you don’t want it discussed in front of them.

With all this being said, we can’t shield our children from everything – it’s only a matter of time until they are exposed to confronting comments about food and appearance. That’s where the next step comes in!

TWO – Educate

Ongoing education is key when it comes to counteracting the diet culture. Young children see things only as black and white – nuance is a thing of the future for them! For this reason, it can be helpful to talk to them about food and their bodies in a neutral way, avoiding labels such as “healthy” or “unhealthy”. Our blog article “How to Raise an Intuitive Eater” has some more helpful tips on this topic!

Other strategies to influence their mindset include:

  • Normalising bodies of all shapes and sizes through books, movies and artwork that show different bodies in a positive light.
  • Avoiding appearance-based compliments and celebrate their internal qualities instead, such as their kindness or willingness to share.
  • Explaining more complex concepts to older children when appropriate, such as the discrimination experienced by people in larger bodies.

While this might all sound quite blasé, it can be a truly complicated task to navigate, especially when your children are getting conflicting messages from other sources. When this occurs, you might like to use it as an opportunity for discussion or simply say “Some people are still learning to like their bodies the way they are”.

THREE – Understand your own biases and beliefs

Although it is important to support your children to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies, healing from your own trauma should be your first priority – a “put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others” kind of situation!

If you’re finding yourself struggling with body image and food rules, it may be worth seeking support from a health professional who has experience in this area.

For more help on how to implement these principles into your own life, reach out to one of our expert dietitians at [email protected] – we’d be honoured to support you on this journey with your family!

Karli Battaglia MDiet, APD

EHL Team x

 

References

  1. Schur E, Sanders M, Steiner H. Body dissatisfaction and dieting in young children. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 2000;27(1):74-82.
  2. Balantekin K. The Influence of Parental Dieting Behavior on Child Dieting Behavior and Weight Status. Current Obesity Reports. 2019;8(2):137-144.
  3. Sharpe H, Naumann U, Treasure J, Schmidt U. Is fat talking a causal risk factor for body dissatisfaction? A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 2013;46(7):643-652.
  4. Lawler M, Nixon E. Body Dissatisfaction Among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Effects of Body Mass, Peer Appearance Culture and Internalization of Appearance Ideals. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2010;40(1):59-71.

Other Related Post

How do I stop binge eating?
This week is Eating Disorder Awareness Week here in the UK, and this year’s focus is on Binge Eating Disorder. https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/edaw As part of Embody Health London’s contribution to this important cause, this article shares five of our top tips to help you to stop binge eating – for good!
Read More
Four Ways to Practice Body Neutrality
Self-love is incredibly empowering and aspirational, but it is also a radical concept for many people. When your body image is far from perfect, the idea of loving your body can seem unachievable or even laughable...
Read More
yoga and eating disorders
The power of yoga in eating disorder recovery
Yoga as an embodiment practice   There is a growing
Read More

About EHL

Embody Health London Team

Welcome to Embody Health London

Embody Health London champions food freedom, positive body image, mental health and emotional wellbeing through a uniquely blended scientific and holistic approach. The EHL team specialises in treating chronic dieting and eating disorders by coaching clients to build confidence and reduce anxiety around their eating habits and food choices.

Download our free ebook!

The EHL Newsletter

Stay up to date with Embody Health London and get our fortnightly newsletter  jampacked with freebies, resources and exclusive offers you won’t want to miss!

Popular Articles

How to stop dieting