This was the most views post of the week on The kurve Kits Facebook page.
And you can see why!
How can we protect our children from the media and all the slim, flawless and photo-shopped people that we see on tv, which inject our children with low self-esteem.
There are no easy answers and they may all differ from child to child, but here are a few tips that worked for me.
1, Keep your child active.
When your child starts walking, make sure you both take that small walk to the local shop, let them walk along side the buggy and put them back in for a rest once they get tired.
If there are play groups then go, let your child have fun and not stuck on your lap the whole time. When they start nursery, do not take the buggy if it’s not far.
If they are school age, get them into after school activities like football or games clubs, dance or ballet. Trust me, they are out there. Use your local parks and the internet have so much ideas of games in the park with children.
2, Eat healthy, as often as you can.
Try to get information on eating healthy. I am not saying don’t have a family take away. cook with your children, introduce fruit and veg from a young age, so your child will get used to them and if it doesn’t work, try and try again. Keep sweets and treats to a minimum, or make your own cake or cookies.
This is better than buying them and you can have special treat days in the week where you all enjoy your baked goods, which is also fantastic for bonding time.
3, Talk about the body.
Explain differences in people, talk about how everyone is beautiful. Find out what they feel is beautiful, so you understand what their perception is and help support them in the right direction. I am not saying preach to your child, use this time to find out what your childs views are on the world around them.
4, Help them understand that beauty starts from within.
Understanding that being beautiful on the inside is more important that whats on the outside. For example, when another child shares a toy with your child, explain that was a nice thing to do. Praise your child for being kind as we can often focus on negative behaviours.
With an older children, use TV programs or cartoon characters to help them understand what is good person or a kind person, the draw out the beautiful qualities from there. Always use examples to help them understand and ask them for an example of who they think is beautiful.
5, Seek advice.
I know that the government will be taking away many children centres and parent support teams, so you may have to move fast but there is help. Call the council and see where the nearest place is for support, talk to teachers and ask if they know of any places, where you can gain Information in supporting your child in confidence building and/or body image support.
6, Let them see photo shop
If your child is older, this is a great way to help them understand that many things get changed and are not real. Youtube have many great videos of how models get changed to look completely different to what they actually look like.
I hope this helped some of you.
Don’t get me wrong, my kids are all thick-set. but when it comes to their physical activity ability, i wish i was able to do the things they can do, even when I was their age and I was a active young person. My daughter has been doing ballet, tap and acrobatics from the age of 4, and now she does gymnastics and does all these things that some of you and i could only imagine doing.
This advice isn’t about making sure you child doesn’t turn out bigger than all the other kids. It’s simply about ensuring that our children remain healthy as possible. We have to take into consideration that genetics plays a big part in how our children look too.
When your a plus size parent, many will assume you do not feed your children correctly and you just give the unhealthy food. I used to love the look on people’s faces when I pull out a fruit salad at a picnic with people I don’t know and the shock on their faces when my picnic was way more healthier than there’s.
Xxx Fran xxX
thekurvekit 