WELLNESS AUTHOR
Sarah Leahy, CPT
LITTLE EARS LISTEN n How you speak about your body in front
of your children matters, and it can have a great impact on your child’s body image.
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n many years of training clients, one unfortunate recurring theme pops up, particularly in female clients. The details change slightly, but the overall message is the same — they dislike their body, have a poor relationship with food and can distinctly remember being very young when they first became aware that they should be watching what they eat. For some, this came in the form of comments from family members — “Are you going to eat all that?” or “Wow, you eat a lot for a girl!” For others, it was watching and listening to a parent talk about their own body negatively and witnessing a constant cycle of fad dieting and unhealthy behaviors. There has been a positive shift starting in the fitness industry over the last few years focusing on moving your body for the joy of it and eating well most of the time, while still enjoying the things that make life full. Even with these changes, clients of all ages come in with similar body image and food relationship issues from childhood and adolescence. Parenting is no easy task. You must be mindful of
AUGUST 2022
your language being inappropriate and the way you speak about yourself, your body and food around your family. Children are always listening and observing; they take many of their cues on how to feel about their own person from the way their adult role models behave. Seeing a parent going through binge and restricted eating patterns in an endless cycle is just as damaging for the child as it is for the parent. Those seemingly harmless comments you make about your own body are heard and processed, and children will internalize them — suggesting that it’s necessary to cleanse or eat salad after eating a piece of cake or pizza, not being able to enjoy summer unless you change your body, commenting on a stranger’s weight and appearance. All of these things may seem innocuous, but your children are listening and learning that these actions are normal, and they start to believe that they, too, need to be concerned about how their bodies are perceived. The comments you make to your children about their own choices shape them and can have a lasting impact on how they view themselves, carrying over into
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