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If your child says something negative about his or her body, don’t ignore it or brush it off. Instead, discuss it. Ask your child why he or she is concerned about the body, and why it matters. Talk about why your child feels this way. If your child says a comment about being fat, ask him why he thinks this way. Who told him? Should he believe this person? Why or why not? Is it important what this person thinks? What does your child think? If your child experiences criticism about his or her looks, help put it in perspective. Help your child work through hurt feelings, then examine the comment further. Brainstorm how to handle comments in the future and how to stick up for other kids that may experience similar comments. If your child gets teased at school for her weight, assure your child that this was a mean comment and provide comfort for her. With your child, ask why some people say mean things. Then, together think of things she can respond with in the future, or how to respond to defending someone else. Teach your child to express what is hurtful in the statement. Teach your child to say to a bully, “It’s wrong to tease someone and it can hurt their feelings. Whether you like the way someone looks or not doesn’t change who that person is, and reflects more about you being mean than who the other person. is.” Teach your children that celebrities are paid to look a certain way and not everyone looks like them. Show your children that magazines often use airbrushing and editing to make people look flawless. Remind them that comparing their bodies to those of celebrities is silly, and that photo editing is often used to sell products. Remind kids that celebrities and professional athletes have teams of people to help them look and perform a certain way. Athletes often have special trainers and nutritionists to help keep their bodies in optimal shape. Celebrities sometimes change their bodies for certain roles they play for a movie or tv show. These people pay others to help them maintain their image, which is unrealistic for most people. Encourage media that displays positive body image. Avoid tv shows, magazines, movies, and music that are not body positive. If something comes along, take the opportunity to talk about it with your child. Ask your child why it’s harmful to show this kind of behavior on tv or in a magazine. Ask what kind of effect it can have on people, and how that can be harmful. If you have a young child, it’s harder to have these discussions. Instead, simply say, “I don’t like this program because it hurts how women see their bodies. I’m going to change the channel.” Don’t allow children to think there is one “ideal” body shape. Remind kids that every body is different, and those differences are okay.  Look at people that deviate from the “ideal” image, and talk about how they influence society positively. Instead of looking at images of celebrities, talk about people with roles in government, religion, environmental groups, and health organizations, and discuss how their bodies don’t affect their ability to do good work.  If your child likes to play with dolls, let your child play with toys that celebrate body diversity. Choose dolls with different body size, skin color, hair color, eye color, and hair texture. Take a look around your community and notice how different people look: people have different eye colors, hair colors, hair textures and lengths, clothing styles, skin colors, and body shapes. Remind your kids that these differences are okay. Remind your children that their bodies have changed a lot since they were babies, and all their changes are okay. As their bodies continue to grow, these changes are okay, too.
Don’t ignore negative comments from your child. Help kids work through negative comments. Teach about the media. Look for alternative media. Emphasize different body shapes.