“Mom, ugh… I feel fat!!”: Understanding Body Image and Its Impact on Our Kids' Mental Health by Dr. Emily Ciepcielinski
Hello! We’re so excited to host another Growing Our Girls special guest and collaborator on the blog today: Dr. Emily Ciepcielinski, an anxiety and eating disorder specialist who also trains counselors and other mental health providers in the field. As a mom of 3 (including 2 adolescent girls and a boy), her passion for mental health and helping her clients through anxiety and disordered eating runs deep. Not only does she manage a private practice, but she also develops online content designed to help parents model positive habits and relationship with food for their children. We’re thrilled to have Dr. Emily as our next workshop speaker next Friday and hope you enjoy getting to know her a little better today! Let’s see what she has to say…
In today's image-driven world, it's no surprise that children are developing concerns about their bodies at younger and younger ages. I’ve witnessed this in my practice and in my personal circles as well. It seems as though over the past ten years, I’m hearing more and more comments like these:
“My daughter asked me to tell her the number of calories in our dinner so she could ‘track’ it…”
“My son wants to lose weight because kids were calling him ‘chubby’ on the bus.”
“My child asked me why her belly is so big and all her friends’ bellies are flat… she was really distressed…”
“My kid has been crying at night, saying he hates the way he looks.”
Body image—the way we perceive, think, and feel about our own bodies—has become a growing mental health concern for children and adolescents. While struggles with body image may seem like something that doesn’t fully emerge until the tween or teenage years, research shows that children as young as 5 years old can express dissatisfaction with their bodies. This early onset of body image struggles has ripple effects on a child's self-esteem, mental health, and overall well-being.
Take a look at some additional, alarming statistics:
81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat.
46% of 9–11-year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on a diet.
31% of 8-14-year-olds felt that the images they see on social media make them feel insecure about their bodies.
Poor body image is closely linked with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, which have all skyrocketed in recent years.
When you combine an image-obsessed culture with high levels of weight stigma, it creates a climate where individuals hyperfocus on external appearances and demonize bodies that stray from cultural ideals (i.e., folks in larger bodies especially, but also any “body” that does not fit the narrow cultural definition of “fit” and/or “beautiful”). So, as parents and caregivers, we face a unique challenge: how do we help our kids develop a positive relationship with their bodies amidst a pretty toxic culture?
How We Can Make a Difference
This task might feel overwhelming and daunting, but I assure you – there is hope! As a mental health clinician specializing in body image and eating disorders, I’ve seen firsthand the power that parents have in shaping their children's body image. Our kids learn by watching and listening to us, so the language we use, the attitudes we display toward food and our own bodies, the actions we take, and how we respond to societal pressures all play a critical role. There is research to both support the notion that body image can be strategically improved and that parents can be powerful forces in this improvement.
This is why I created Body Confident Parenting – Your Blueprint to Raising Empowered Kids at Peace with Their Bodies and Food, a comprehensive 4-week online course designed to give you the tools and strategies to guide your children toward a positive, resilient body image. The course provides practical lessons on topics like understanding body image development, addressing media and cultural influences, modeling a positive relationship with food and health, and responding to peer pressure and bullying. You’ll gain insights into what to say and how to say it, all while ensuring your child grows up with the confidence to embrace their inherent worth and reject harmful body ideals.
We cannot control all of the messages our children receive from the outside world, but we can empower them with the tools to skillfully manage them. My course equips you with evidence-based strategies and expert guidance to help you and your family do just that. I sincerely hope you’ll join me!
This is merely a peek into the insights Dr. Ciepcielinski will share with our GOG community on Friday, November 1 in Charlotte. She’ll talk more about what Body Confident Parenting looks like for each of us and will be able to share details about her online course if you’re interested in learning more strategies to use at home. In the meantime, be sure to check out the wealth of content Emily already has available to parents on her website and Instagram.