Parents Influence On Body Image

It’s true; we live in a “mass consumerist” society, which thrives on advertising unhealthy and impossible body ideals. Yet parents play a crucial role in a child’s body image, development and how they view themselves. The topic of body image is an increasingly researched one, but shouldn’t parents do the research? Parents tend to be the lens when it comes to a child’s need or curiosity, but when the topic of body image – or anything relating to the body – it can come off as “awkward”, sometimes even the child and parent don’t want to discuss it, but body image and a parent’s involvement is very important, because the way you view your body gives you not only a positive outlook on yourself, but a positive outlook on life. It takes certain surroundings and effects for a growing person to be comfortable with their body, and parents can aid in that comfort.
According to Brown University Education, negative body image can distort how someone sees themselves, and they often tend to feel that their size and shape is a sign of failure, therefore lowering their self-esteem as it is an important indicator of worth. Nowadays, media consumption starts at early age. CommonSenseMedia states that more than 80% of females on television shows aimed at children are below average weight. This impact has a lot of potential to do a lot of harm to our children’s self-esteem and their own perception of their