At what age do you guys think it is relevant to teach children how to be confident and comfortable in their own skin? Whilst you want to prevent any body image issues children have, you also don't want to intrude on their childhood with information about the big scary world of diets and models...when they should be playing 'tag' or hide and seek.
My aunt called me the other day. She told me my cousin (aged 9) told her to not put cheese on her spaghetti bolognaise because she was on a diet. This scared the hell out of me and brought a tear to my eye. She had been picked on at school about her weight. She is in NO way fat. She is in NO way chubby.
A few days later, my aunt told me she caught her shaving because she was being picked on about the amount of hair she had on her arms and legs.
It has left me thinking. At what age does a child become conscious of their body? Are body issues at this age a matter of come-back digs from fellow classmates in the playground, or are they being hit by the issue of the media and their view of perfection? Aged 9, I didn't know of the word 'diet'...neither did I know women could shave, for all I saw it was men putting some obscure foam on their chins and wondering around like Father Christmas.
Leave your thoughts,
Hannah x
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