As parents, we all want our children to be healthy and happy. Part of being healthy means eating well and being physically active and also maintaining a normal, healthy body weight.
However, when it comes to weight and children’s bodies, a new study has shed some light on why parents need to thread very carefully.
According to research from he UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health, teasing over body weight or shape can have serious repercussions, and according to experts, it is worse if it comes from mothers.
Can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, and poor body image
Speaking to Parents.com, study author Rebecca Puhl explains:
‘Weight teasing can lead to concerning consequences for both psychological well-being and physical health of youth. For example, youth who are teased about their weight are more likely to have depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, and poor body image. They are also at a heightened risk for disordered eating behaviors, lower physical activity, and weight gain.’
In other words, saying something about your child’s weight can actually end up having detrimental consequences.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, included 1,073 US adolescents aged between 10 and 17. Researchers looked at the link between weight teasing from 11 distinct family members, including parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, and specific health outcomes.
Worryingly, girls were more likely to report weight teasing than boys, and most commonly, it came from female relatives.
And what the researchers found, was that the girls who experiences teasing about their weight, were more likely to take it to heart if it came from a female relative. And one relative’s comments had the potential to do the most emotional damage, the researchers discovered.
When weight teasing came from mothers, it led to the most significant negative outcomes for both girls and boys.
Why is weight teasing from mums worse?
As for why teasing is worse when it comes from mothers, the researchers speculate that as mothers often have a more influential role in a child’s life, this is the reason weight teasing can feel worse when it comes from her.
‘Mothers are often primary attachment figures and centrally involved in children’s daily eating, body image, and health-related experiences,’ Dr Puhl explains.
‘As a result, weight-based comments or teasing from mothers can feel especially personal and emotionally salient to children and adolescents. We also know that maternal dieting behaviors and concerns about a child’s weight are linked to increased family weight teasing.’
The lead researchers adds that children may interpret maternal weight-based teasing as ongoing messages about their worth, attractiveness, or acceptability, rather than isolated jokes.
‘Because parent-child relationships are central to emotional development, these experiences can become internalized and contribute to lower self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and unhealthy eating behaviors,’ says Dr. Puhl.
And the problem?
These issues can last well into adulthood.
‘One of our previous studies [shows] that weight-based teasing in adolescence predicted increased binge eating, eating to cope with stress, and weight gain, 15 years later in adulthood—particularly for females,’ explains Dr. Puhl.
How parents can talk to children about weight
When it comes to discussing weight with children, it is important to focus on behavior change instead of commenting on their body, explains Dani Castro, lead therapist at the virtual eating disorder treatment platform Equip, to Parents.com.
‘That means adding more nutrient-dense foods into their diet, rather than restricting other foods, and focusing on health-promoting behaviors. Find a fun game to play to get moving, or implement family walks after dinner.’
Castro also has tips on how parents can avoid weight bias in kids:
Avoid talking about bodies in a negative way. That includes yours or anyone else’s.
‘Children internalize so much of what the adults in their lives say and do,’ Castro says.
Focus on encouragement instead of criticism. ‘It made me so happy seeing you enjoy those veggies vs. you never eat your veggies,’ Castro gives as an example.
Choose the right sizes. ‘Ensure that, whenever possible, the correct size of clothing is obtained as your children grow,’ says Castro. ‘Even the most confident person would likely feel uncomfortable in their body when wearing too little clothing.’
Don’t just compliment their appearance. ‘One of the best things you can do to raise kids who have a positive body image is to build their self-esteem and confidence in other ways that are completely separate from the way they look,’ explains Castro.
Emphasize more on what the body or mind can do. ‘This way, they hopefully won’t feel as strong a need to derive self-esteem from their body’s size and shape,’ says Castro.
