{"id":1484,"date":"2014-02-10T08:07:37","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2014-02-10T08:07:37","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T16:07:37","slug":"talking-to-your-teen-about-the-pressure-to-be-thin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/02\/10\/talking-to-your-teen-about-the-pressure-to-be-thin\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking to Your Teen About the Pressure to be Thin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/teenpressure.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1485\" alt=\"teenpressure\" src=\"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/teenpressure.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"299\" \/><\/a>It\u2019s a common theme in society. Female models on television are thin and toned. Movie stars walking the red carpet are embraced as stick figures. Media messages continue to portray the perfect body as a size 0.<\/p>\n<p>Teenagers, especially, are heavily influenced by the pressure to be thin. In fact, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationaleatingdisorders.org\/\">National Eating Disorders Association<\/a> reports that approximately a half million teens struggle with disordered eating or eating disorders.<\/p>\n<p>As your adolescent begins to recognize his or her body and question weight and image, it\u2019s important for parents and nannies to know the signs and symptoms of eating disorders, have open and honest discussions about the pressure to be thin and model positive attitudes about body image.<\/p>\n<p><b>Knowledge is Power<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Many times, teens struggle with body image without seeking help from trusted adults. It\u2019s important for parents to be aware of the signs and symptoms that could indicate your child is struggling with self-image or an eating disorder, says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephaniemaneslcsw.com\/\">Stephanie Manes<\/a>, New York-based licensed clinical social worker.<\/p>\n<p>Signs and Symptoms may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sudden weight changes<\/li>\n<li>Changes in eating patterns, including increased rigidity around what foods they will or won\u2019t eat<\/li>\n<li>Preoccupation with diet, exercise and nutritional health<\/li>\n<li>Statements about weight, thinness and body image (especially about his or her own body)<\/li>\n<li>Withdrawing from social activities<\/li>\n<li>Avoiding meals or situations where food is involved<\/li>\n<li>Appearance of food rituals, such as eating at set times, cutting food into small pieces or extra chewing<\/li>\n<li>Denying hunger<\/li>\n<li>Excessive exercise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you, as a parent or nanny, notice any signs or symptoms of an eating disorder in your child, talk about it right away and keep talking. \u201cTry to approach her or him without judgment or criticism,\u201d says Manes. \u201cStay focused on your concern and the reasons for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Opening the Door to Communication<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you suspect that your adolescent is struggling with pressure to be thin, the most important thing to do is open some kind of dialogue and show an interest in his or her experience and point of view, says Manes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegardless of the words you choose, you are letting your child know that you are aware of these issues and are concerned about him or her,\u201d says Manes. \u201cTeenagers may be guarded about talking about their own experiences but more open to talking about how they see body image and diet impacting their peers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These conversations shouldn&#8217;t be limited to teens, though. It\u2019s important that parents and nannies don\u2019t wait until kids are teenagers to start talking about body image and social messages, says Manes. \u201cKids start receiving the body-negative messages from school-age on,\u201d she says. \u201cWe can find ways to talk with younger kids about body image and social messages in an age-appropriate way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For instance, you could start by pointing out some of the negative body messages found in ads, magazines and television shows. Encourage them to form their own opinions about them, suggests Manes. \u201cWith my own daughter, I started pointing out ads that had obvious negative body messages and I would ask her what she thought about them,\u201d she says. \u201cNow she is an expert at spotting anti-body positive messages. If we don\u2019t do this, they accept all this information as the truth and internalize it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Battling the Influences<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Even though it is difficult to shield your child from all media messages, recognizing and pointing out the anti-body messages is a start in the right direction. \u201cOur kids are virtually saturated in dangerously unrealistic images of body and beauty, combined with a cultural obsession about diet,\u201d says Manes. \u201cFortunately, there is a growing interest in combating the destructive media and advertising campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The problem, though, is that parents and nannies can often pick up where the outside message leaves off, says Manes. \u201cKids need to see us walk the walk. Parents need to make every effort to outlaw negative comments about weight and bodies,\u201d says Manes. \u201cWe need to make sure that we aren&#8217;t focusing on diet, good and bad foods, or living on a roller coaster of rigid nutrition and exercise regimens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Modeling positive behavior is key when helping your child understand the importance of positive body image. \u201cWe ourselves need to model a balanced approach to food, body acceptance and hopefully an appreciation of health and joy over appearance,\u201d says Manes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a common theme in society. Female models on television are thin and toned. Movie stars walking the red carpet are embraced as stick figures. Media messages continue to portray the perfect body as a size 0. Teenagers, especially, are &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/02\/10\/talking-to-your-teen-about-the-pressure-to-be-thin\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}