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How to raise a child who is body-positive?

Parents tend to play a huge role in shaping how their children feel and think about their bodies. As a homeschooling parent, encouraging a child’s body image early on, starting from preschool, can make a huge difference in how children feel about themselves while growing up. Here are a few different ways to immunize your little ones against poor body image.

Avoid stereotypes - starting from when your children are in preschool, show them movies, TV shows, and other media that display healthy body sizes and steer clear from stereotypical or sexualized story lines. Whenever possible, make sure you use gender-diverse or gender-neutral pronouns to reference animals, characters, and so on. For instance, not every kitten is a "she" and not every dinosaur a “He.”  

Challenge assumptions- Ask your children what they think of slim or heavyset toys or characters in movies and TV. Observe if the child has any assumptions about the real people based on their weight or size. Remind your little ones that God has made bodies of all sizes and shapes and they are all healthy and normal. Tap into the child’s ability to sympathize by asking how a TV character would feel if criticized for their look. Ask: "How will you feel if somebody criticized you like that?"

Ban any "fat talk". Mothers who complain about their weight make a huge impact on how their little ones think about their bodies. If parents model a positive attitude toward their own body, and motivate children to think positively about their bodies, they can make a world of difference. 

Discuss health rather than weight or size. Focus on talents, behavior, and character traits instead of physical appearance or size. When you discuss celebrities, family and friends, talk about what they do, instead of how they look.

Talk more about internal qualities such as curiosity, kindness, and perseverance that should be valued more than appearance. 

Call out stereotypes. If you see any gender stereotypes -- for instance, during sports related events- talk to your child about them.

Try to minimize exposure to shallow depictions of women and men, but when children see them, prove that questioning how women and men are portrayed is valuable. Teach during homeschooling how magazine and media photos are changed with software to make the skin look smoother or celebs look taller. In fact, you can make a game out of it called Spot the Photoshop!

By taking the required steps you can ensure that your children are secure and happy in a media-heavy culture. Remember, a confident child will turn into a happy adult.
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