Written By: Anusha Iyengar | Published : February 16, 2016 11:55 AM IST
You love your kids just the way they are. Or do you? A lot of times, children have body image issues which go unnoticed by parents. These issues can lead to depression in kids. Before you counsel your son or daughter on body image issues, you need to accept the fact that personality plays a larger role than how a person looks. Dr Avinash D'Souza, a consultant child psychologist, gives 5 simple tips on how to help your child deal with body image issues.
Teach her to accept and love herself
It doesn't matter if your child has a dark complexion or is on the fairer side or whether she is fat or thin. This is the first thing you must make your kid do. Teach her to accept herself the way she is and love herself. The personality of a person says more about the person than physical features. Stand in front of the mirror with her every day and tell her that it's important to be beautiful on the inside. Tell her that it's important to like what she sees in the mirror. A child's physical structure, in most cases, is derived genetically unless she was or is suffering from any disease. Here are 5 things you must never do when you're raising a daughter.
Avoid making comments about anybody's physical appearance
Even if it's an adult you're passing a comment on, it might affect your child emotionally considering she already has issues with how she looks. Be very careful about what you're saying in front of your kids. Here are 5 things you must never say in front of children.
Understand whether your child 'selects' friends based on their looks
Is your child choosing or comparing friends based on how they look? That's either one snobbish or a disturbed child you're raising then. Even if she is too young, make her choose friends according to their personalities and not according to how they look. This, again, depends on what she perceives of herself. Acceptance is something that you must stress on all the time.
Listen and respect her opinion
Don't brush her thoughts off by saying that she is too young to be affected by all this. Take some time out and talk to your child. Kids feel appreciated and positive when their thoughts or perceptions are heard, especially by their parents. She needs to be assured that you will be there for her when she needs someone to talk to or share her concerns. Check out these 10 things all good parents must do with their kids.
Instil confidence in her to stand against bullying
Often, in schools or group of friends, kids are bullied about their physical appearances. Bullies will either pass nasty comments or rag the child making it worse for the kid to deal with the existing body image battles she is fighting in her mind. It's crucial that you report such cases in schools or talk to the parents of bullies. Teach your kid to be contempt with herself and to be brave. Not only the bully victims but the bystanders must also make it a point to stand for the kid. Teach your kids to stand up for the right thing. Raise your child to be a beautiful and responsible person from the inside. Physical appearances do not matter.
Raise your child to be a beautiful and responsible person from the inside. Physical appearances do not matter.
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