Weight, Shape and Appearance

There are many things we can do as parents - and educators - to help our little ones develop a healthy body image.

....Body image refers to how a person perceives, thinks and feels about their physical appearance. While a person’s appearance encompasses only a small part of who they are and what they contribute to the world, body image too commonly represents a person’s greater sense of self worth, whereby poor body image contributes directly to low self esteem. 


The thinking has been that the teenage years were the appropriate time to discuss issues and concerns relating to weight shape and appearance...but not so.

Unhealthy body image can begin at an early age...and anyone who works and or live with little ones could have a powerful and long lasting influence on the development of a positive body image; one where there is an acceptance of DIVERSITY in weight, shape and appearance of people.

As we go about our day, we are surrounded by images and messages that portray a narrow view of what is acceptable or good weight, shape and appearance.  Movies, TV dramas, advertisements, the influence of friends and family, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, video games, slogans and texts on clothes, seem to portray an ideal but unrealistic and many times overly sexualised image.

And it is a slippery slope from being innocent and harmless to being inappropriate.

My current concern is the overemphasis on appearance. I counted the number of times my Preschooler focused on her appearance in one day...too many to mention here. But what I found more interesting and alarming was the number of times people in our community would stop in the street and make a comment (before I can intervene) about her ensemble, or clips, her hair, her shoes - all very innocent and friendly but this happens every day. What message is that sending to the brain of a four year old girl?

I wish to avoid an overemphasis on appearance - one where it prevents her from doing more important things...like participating, or just being in the 'moment'.

The next few years, she will be joining the dots about body weight and shape - as well as appearance. So I hope and plan to provide her with the protective coping tools to help her navigate through this minefield. Eating Disorders Foundation of Victoria has a website which provides a very helpful list of what parents and teachers can do to promote healthy views on weight shape and appearance. I have linked it
here.

On a final note...where do you stand on these?

Make up for tweens

Bratz dolls

The following of Suri's style?

'What's the time Mr Wolf?'

Lunch time!!

Today, whilst on an excursion to the zoo, we stumbled upon a beautiful bit of outdoor space in our search for a spot to sit for lunch. A patch of grass, dappled shade, trees, shrubs - just perfect for a game of 'What's the time Mr Wolf".

My Preschooler had a turn at being the Wolf first. Counting is a really big 'thing' right now. 13 was the call - so she only had a couple of calls before I was right upon her. When I was close enough, I snatched the hat and ran back to base (which was the stroller). Not bad since I had my toddler in my arms.

When it was my turn (with the toddler still in my arms) I included my toddler into the game by holding up his fingers to represent the time ie. number of steps to be taken. Since the numbers we chose were small, we had several calls to make. At the call of lunchtime, we chased the Preschooler back to base - safe to play another time.
 
 It does not take long for the enthusiastic to learn the strategy and rules of the game. The wolf lures the participants close enough to him so that he can call out 'lunchtime' and catch someone. The participants tries to get as close to the wolf as possible to steal his 'treasure' (in my case, it was the hat - but a ball or scarf tucked into the pants would be safer) and return to the safety of the 'base' - usually a line (or in my case, the stroller).

Lots of fun.

This game is so perfect for Preschoolers as it involves few rules, counting, singing, estimating space, strategic thinking, anticipation, developing reaction time, agility - gleefulness. Having a turn at being the Wolf also builds self esteem.

I usually play this game with larger groups but as I found out today, it worked with just the three of us.

And now, it is bed time.