Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy this week with kids, a pinched nerve, and work. My neck is getting better, but it’s a slow process that leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. I haven’t been writing much because I’m focusing on getting my shoulder and neck back to normal. I may have to give up running. I hope not, but I might have to find another way to work off those calories. But enough about that, that’s not what I wanted to talk about today.
Today, I’d like to talk about girls who have poor body image. Experts blame magazines and Barbie Dolls. They state that these “role models” give girls an unrealistic image of what a female body should look like, and I know it doesn’t help, but we need to dig deeper. I say we need to have our mothers show love and acceptance for their own bodies.
Young girls’ role models are their mothers. So, if we have healthier mothers, we will have healthier daughters. Mom’s need to accept their bodies with grace and instead of focusing on what their body looks like, they need to focus on how healthy their body is.
We also need experts and role models to focus on HEALTH and not on image. If you have your health, you truly have wealth. It doesn’t matter how much you have in your bank account. So, mothers stop beating yourself up because you can’t lose that last five pounds. Instead focus on how strong your body is and how good you feel because you exercised. Illustrate those attributes for your daughters and they will be unstoppable.
If we do this, they won’t need to look outside the family for guidance from a role model who’s trying to sell them something. I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Parents need to be involved with their kids. Mothers with their daughters and Fathers with their sons. Especially in the teen years, when they’re trying to find out who they are.
So, make your health one of your life’s goals, and you can’t go wrong. I know teens tell us they know everything, but they’re watching us and emulating our behavior when they don’t think we’re looking.
What are your thoughts? Do you think I’m on the right track? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
