Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do Children and Weight: Focus on Body Image

Body Image is... how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind what you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations) how you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight how you sense and control your body as you move. How you feel in your body, not just about your body Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

Negative body image is: A distorted sense of your actual body shape and size Feeling ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body Feeling uncomfortable and awkward in your body Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

How youth develop negative body images: Media images of bodies that hardly anyone can attain Attitudes and behaviors of parents and other adults Peer pressure, teasing, and discrimination Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

Problems related to negative body image: Low self-esteem Depression Dieting and disordered eating High risk behaviors such as - teen pregnancy - substance abuse Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

Positive body image is: A clear, true sense of your actual body shape and size Appreciation of your body’s form and function Feeling comfortable and confident in your body Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

Ideas for promoting positive body image among children and teens: Refrain from making negative comments about your own body or the bodies of others Teach young people to recognize and oppose size discrimination Point out that the way people act is much more important than the way they look Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do

More ideas for promoting positive body image among children and teens: Take every opportunity to bolster self- esteem in young people: love, accept, acknowledge, appreciate, and value all children, regardless of their weight Help young people identify and celebrate depictions of people of all sizes, shapes, and colors Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do