If You Focus on These 3 Tips, You’ll Be Off to a Great Start
Body-liberation-oriented parenting offers a refreshing approach in a world where body ideals and diet culture often overshadow actual well-being. Here are my top three key tips to help foster a positive and inclusive environment for your child:
Celebrate Body Diversity
Never Put a Child on a Diet
Associate Physical Movement with How it Feels
All three of these can be taught through modeling or exposure to fat community, including fat art through books and other media.
1. Celebrate Body Diversity
It would be super boring if everyone were the same. Tapping into genuine gratitude for the diversity of body shapes and sizes is easy-- bodies are cool! However, it can be challenging to address biases. A rule against talking about people’s bodies can prevent harmful or negative comments and reduce body shaming.
At the same time, celebrating body diversity involves discussing and promoting the value of different body types in a respectful and appreciative manner, avoiding any language that could be interpreted as objectifying or reducing someone to their appearance.
For example, highlighting the beauty of diverse body shapes in media and art may be constructive, whereas making personal comments about someone’s body is not. Make it a point to showcase diverse representations of bodies in your home—through books, media, and conversations.
2. Never Put a Child on a Diet
Be mindful of how you talk about food and body size around your child to avoid reinforcing diet culture. Avoid labeling foods with binaries like, “good” or “bad,” "healthy" or "unhealthy." Do the work to undo your own associations between food and morality, body size and health, and health and worth.
Parenting spaces are often unfortunately ripe with diet talk. Get support if you need it to keep yourself safe.
3. Associate Physical Movement with How It Feels
Encourage physical activity by focusing on how it makes your child feel rather than on how it impacts their appearance. Support activities that bring joy and pleasure or help them move through sadness, fear, anger. Some bodies thrive with more movement, while others may need less.
Movement needs will be different from day to day, as well. If we're breathing, we're moving. It's all good. Acknowledge what's already happening for your child rather than casting aspirations. It's a great way to get to know someone. From that deep knowledge you can better adapt the environment to give them opportunities to move that work for them.
Imagine how different our lives might have been if our parents had embraced these principles—celebrating body diversity, rejecting diet culture, and focusing on the life inherent in movement. By adopting these practices, you’re not only nurturing a warmer home environment for your child but also contributing to a world where future generations can thrive uninhibited by anti-fat bias.
Ready to explore body-liberation-oriented parenting or need support in other areas of parenting? I'm here to help you navigate these important conversations and any other challenges you might face as a parent. Whether you're interested in fostering a sense of body freedom or seeking guidance on different aspects of parenting, let's work together to create a nurturing environment for your child. Contact me today to learn more about how parent coaching can support you and your family.
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