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Building a Better Body Image · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello, and welcome to Talking FACS. We have information you can use to strengthen
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  your family, your community, and our state.
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  I am your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  Messages about finding the perfect body or achieving an ideal weight bombard
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  us daily from many sources of media.
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  And while you might have learned to be comfortable in your own skin,
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  it is important to help children and youth develop skills to appreciate their own bodies.
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  Today, my guest is Dr. Courtney Luecking, Assistant Extension Professor for
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  Maternal and Child Health.
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  And our topic is Building a Better Body Image. Welcome, Courtney. Hi, Mindy.
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  I'm really glad that we're talking about this because I have a little in my
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  life and you have littles in your life.
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  So we really need to be talking about building their body images from a very
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  young age, right? Yes. Oh, my gosh.
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  I have two little girls. And so I think I'm especially sensitive to this.
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  But just the lived experiences over the last couple of years as my oldest has
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  gotten older and can better understand that the conversations going on around her and me kind of.
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  Trying to mediate the way people are talking about their bodies in a way that
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  can hopefully help everyone feel better about their own.
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  First of all, just let's be really basic and make sure that everybody understands
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  what we mean when we say body image.
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  Oh gosh, you know I love a good definition, right?
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  The language matters. I think making sure we are on the same page.
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  So body image is the way that we think and feel about our body.
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  Simple, but also as complex as that.
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  Yeah, and it does change. I mean, I know that as a child or a teenager,
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  I felt very differently about my body than I do now as a woman in her 50s.
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  You know, sometimes it's hard to recognize that the way I thought back then
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  was kind of silly. But also speaks to where you were in life right then and
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  what was going on around you.
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  And so I'm so glad you brought that up, that body image does change over time.
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  That is normal for everyone.
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  What role does body image play in our overall health and well-being?
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  It plays an important role on our health behaviors that ultimately impacts our
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  physical and our mental health.
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  So when we or our children have a positive body image, they have greater self-confidence,
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  they have greater self-esteem, and greater overall well-being. And.
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  I know from raising two children and now watching a granddaughter that the effect
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  of the other people in their life really does impact the way children see themselves, doesn't it?
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  Absolutely. Family, friends, pop culture, and social media.
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  These are some of the heavy influencers on our body image.
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  The things that I didn't have to deal with and you didn't have to deal with,
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  social media was not an issue when I was growing up or when you were growing up.
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  But now it is there and it is so present in the lives of young people today. It is.
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  It is. And so that's actually one important step to helping cultivate positive
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  body image is help children understand what is happening on social media,
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  how to filter through those messages,
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  discussing with them, sometimes the unrealistic images that they're seeing on
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  there, that there's filters,
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  there's AI generated images.
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  This is kind of unrelated, but I think it makes a good point.
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  I was chatting with someone the other day, and she had a professional headshot
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  created by AI from uploading 10 photos of herself.
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  So all that to say, it was creating a photo, I'm using air quotes,
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  a photo of her based on photos of her. It was wild.
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  Wow. Yes, but at this point in our lives, we're ready to just go with what is
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  taken, what the camera sees, right?
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  Right, right. But so all of that to say helping children understand that what
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  they're seeing may not, in fact,
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  be real and helping them manage their settings or to unfollow accounts that
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  say harmful things about body size or extreme dieting or physical activity behaviors
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  because we don't want to set that up to be the norm.
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  Back in the old days, all we had to worry about was airbrushing, right?
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  And now it's this AI that we have to really worry about what is happening to
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  people's whole persona.
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  I do remember somebody actually seeing someone in person that I had only met on Zoom before.
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  And of course, it was during the pandemic. So we were all wearing masks.
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  But I didn't recognize them because we were all wearing masks.
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  But now I'm thinking, you know, if you meet somebody in person that you've only
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  ever seen on social media and they've been enhanced by AI, you might not recognize them.
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  Fair point. Fair point. Yes, it makes it all much more complicated.
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  So are there periods of life when we are more vulnerable to negative body images?
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  Yes, this may not be surprising, but adolescence is that time of highest risk
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  for developing a negative body image because their bodies are going through
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  a lot of change and pretty rapidly, but yet likely at a different pace than
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  those that they're around.
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  And so helping children understand what is going on with their bodies,
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  the way that it's growing and changing over time can help them have a better
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  appreciation for what's going on and a better body image.
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  And we probably should point out, it might seem obvious, but this really does affect both genders.
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  Boys and girls are going through positive or negative body image issues during adolescence.
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  Anyone, anyone of the adolescent age could be experiencing this, absolutely.
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  So what tips can you offer to help develop a positive body image?
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  I think an important first step is to be a positive role model as an adult.
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  And so it takes a hard pause to reflect on what our relationship is with our body.
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  That's kind of the primary step is assess where we are.
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  How do we talk about our bodies? Is it in a kind and loving way or is it a negative way?
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  And then also thinking about how we talk about other people's bodies.
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  Do we talk about it first and foremost. And if we do, how are we commenting?
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  And just think about what we say and how we say it.
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  Children are listening, they're absorbing that, and it's affecting how they
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  feel and talk about their own body.
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  And so instead of talking about the way we look or others look,
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  and this kind of feeds forward into another tip, but keeping the focus on eating
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  and physical activity habits, ways that we take care of our body.
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  We take care of our body by sleeping.
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  We take care of our body by eating a variety of nutritious foods.
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  We take care of our body by moving in a way that we enjoy.
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  And so as an adult, doing those things and talking about those things not only
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  helps us, but then sets that positive example for children.
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  Love those tips because I know that it makes a difference seeing how words affect children.
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  And it doesn't matter how many times you say they're just words. They're just words.
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  They're just words. they're real words when a
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  child hears real words they're real words to them and it
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  doesn't matter what any other adult says
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  to them it's going to hurt yeah absolutely and so
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  thinking about how we can honor bodies as the
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  way they are so bodies come in all
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  shapes and sizes and colors and so
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  we want to talk in a way that celebrates those differences rather
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  than othering those differences focus
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  on what bodies are capable of rather than
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  how they look so instead of saying like
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  oh you look so cute today maybe praise them for their work ethic or their courage
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  or their humor any of these other kind of personality traits and make sure that
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  they're clear that their value is not linked to their body size or their appearance perfect yes.
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  Yes, I love your brain. My favorite phrase, I love to say. I love your brain.
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  It takes practice, though, right? I can think of a couple instances with family,
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  you know, and I know they mean well, you know, like, oh, you're so cute,
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  but trying to rephrase or offer other suggestions for compliments or things
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  or when talking about, like, the way their clothes are fitting and,
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  you know, like, oh, it's too tight on me or I'm too fat for that or something,
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  You know, and I'm like, oh, you don't like the way that your shirt fits.
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  So like trying to or I remember one time there was an instance and I won't name
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  the family member, but they said something that was clearly about a body size.
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  And then my daughter looked straight at me and I looked at her and I said,
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  well, in our family, we celebrate different body sizes.
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  And she just kind of looked at me and smiled. And so it was like trying,
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  you know, she could feel that conflict.
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  She picked up on the way somebody was talking about somebody else and then kind
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  of looked at me for reinforcement.
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  Before we wrap up, Courtney, any last tips for our parents who are dealing with these issues at home?
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  I will just reinforce to observe your language and your actions.
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  Instead of talking about diet or weight, keeping the focus on,
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  again, the things that you're doing to take care of yourself.
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  That the nutritious foods provide energy to play and learn and grow,
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  and that we are supporting children to move ways in which feel good to their body.
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  And then encouraging kids to talk to a trusted adult and recognizing that us,
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  if we're the primary caregiver, that doesn't necessarily mean it's us.
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  As long as children have someone they feel comfortable talking to,
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  when they start to notice these changes or differences or have these uncomfortable
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  feelings, knowing that they have someone to trust to talk to can make all the
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  difference in the world.
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  And I love something you said earlier is model that good behavior.
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  So love yourself and give your children something to emulate.
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  Yes. Courtney, thanks so much for your time today. I know that this discussion
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  will be something that I hope many parents will come back to time and time again.
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  Absolutely. And maybe it'll spark some nice conversations among social circles,
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  because I think it says a lot for not only how we do things,
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  but then how that ripples out into the world of how we talk about things.
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  Exactly, exactly. If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Talking FACS,
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  Music.