I worry about teen girls and their body image issues all the time, and for good reason. Surveys find that upwards of 9 in 10 teen girls dislike their bodies.
It’s no surprise that so many teen girls are dissatisfied with their appearance, given the diet, weight and body type challenges and trends that they’re repeatedly exposed to. A few years ago, the “thigh gap” challenge emerged, suggesting a strenuous amount of exercise and dieting, and even then this gap was not attainable unless one had a very specific bone structure. As of late, an even more unrealistic body trend has gone viral: the “Cinderella weight” (or “Cinderella diet”) challenge. The goal here is to develop the body proportions of a fictional Disney character who is depicted with an unrealistically tiny and unachievable waist that’s appropriate only for her fictional character.
[Read: 7 Ways to Help Girls Thrive in a World Still Obsessed With Thinness.]
When girls try to follow trends such as these, they’re increasingly likely to not only become frustrated and be dissatisfied with their bodies but to restrict their diet in unhealthy ways and develop eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa. Marked by a relentless pursuit of thinness, anorexia not only leads to weight loss but it’s also associated with an increased mortality rate.
While body type trends may appear harmless at first glance, they are anything but. These trends combined with consuming many years of social media images of what a female body purportedly should look like can be a recipe for dangerous behavior. Have a look at the pictures of teens in any magazine and you will see stick thin, pre-pubescent looking young women. And we know that what girls see repeatedly is what they will try to emulate.
But contrary to this narrow fixation on appearance, wellness includes being emotionally and physically healthy and having realistic expectations in all arenas of life. Clearly, if you are raising teen girls, you have a great deal of work to do to keep them healthy. The trends and media messages conveying unrealistic and unhealthy visuals of females are certainly not helping you. Mothers of teens, too, are vulnerable to unrealistic expectations of what a woman’s body should look like at all ages, and are often unhappy with their own bodies. This is not lost on teen daughters.
[Read: Are Your Weight Concerns for Your Kids Too Much?]
If you currently struggle with body image issues, or have in the past, it’s important to take a deep breath, reflect on those struggles and reevaluate how you talk and think about the female body. The life you save may be your own, your friend’s or your daughter’s. Women of all ages need a collective reboot in regards to how we think about the female body. While you can’t protect your daughter from being exposed to all the trends shared on social media, you can, nonetheless, be of tremendous help in this respect.
Here are three things you can do:
1. Consider how you talk about your own body. Do you ask your family members if you look fat? Do you complain about your body? If so, keep in mind that your daughter is taking her cues from you. You are your daughter’s most important role model. She may not tell you this, but it is certainly true. How can teen girls possibly be pleased with their bodies if their mothers are constantly devaluing their own? I beg you to consider speaking about your own body in a kinder and more compassionate manner. Try very hard to refrain from criticism. Try to shift to focusing on body health rather than weight.
2. Talk to your daughter about dangerous trends that could affect her body image. Make sure you’re aware of these trends, and point out how absurd the goals are. Shift away from a focus only on appearance toward being healthy. Even when the trends have passed, keep the conversation going. You don’t need to wait for another bad idea to go viral to talk to your daughter about health and to reinforce a positive body image.
[See: What to Say and Do If Your Daughter Thinks She’s Fat.]
3. Help your daughter feel good about herself. Girls with positive self-esteem are less vulnerable to body image issues. Help your daughter develop passions and interests that do not revolve around appearance. This will reinforce the message that life is about many things and happiness does not and should not be based on body weight, having a thigh gap, or waist size.
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The ‘Cinderella Weight’ Challenge and Body Image Issues originally appeared on usnews.com
