Emphasizing Health vs. Weight for Body-Positive Thinking

If mealtime discussions center on weight or body size, it's time to change the subject. Focusing on weight often backfires and may lead both young children and teens to feelings of guilt and insecurities about their bodies. It also may lead to other negative behaviors, such as sneaking food and disordered eating.

Instead, it's more effective to talk about the taste and healthfulness of foods. Diet and lifestyle affect mood, energy levels, and athletic and school performance, and can help reduce the risk of illness. Build everyday eating habits around foods that contribute to health so an occasional less-nutritious food can fit in without being labeled "cheating."

Here are a few ways to help your kids develop body-positive attitudes and healthful behaviors.

Teach What Healthy Eating Is and Isn't

Obsessing about calories, carbs, fats or any nutrient is not healthy eating. It makes meals stressful and unpleasant — the opposite of what every kid and adult deserves. Teach children what a healthful meal looks like: half of the plate filled with fruits and vegetables. Offering a variety of foods at regular meal and snack times is another positive step. Try eating meals as a family as often as possible to encourage healthful habits.

Make Food Fun

Get kids of all ages into the kitchen. From washing apples to slicing veggies and stirring hot pots, there are food preparation and cooking tasks suitable for every child. For fun, have nights when your children get to choose a new food. Or have themed nights such as Meatless Mondays or a trip around the globe. Get little kids excited by giving foods fun names, such as green monster juice and ants on a log.

Be a Role Model

If your eating habits are not the ones you want your children to copy, now is a great time to make some improvements. Model a healthy attitude about your body image, too. If you always complain about your weight or call certain foods "bad foods," your children will learn to do the same. If you follow fad diets, they'll learn that restrictive eating is more important than a balanced, healthful approach.

Put Weight into Perspective

You cannot get the full picture of a child's health by looking at weight or a single point on a growth chart. Remember that children's bodies change as they grow. Behaviors including regular meals and snacks, drinking plenty of fluids, eating a variety of vegetables and fruits and getting at least an hour of active play every day are much better markers of health than weight.

Take Your Concerns to a Professional

If you're concerned about your child' weight, diet or body image, talk with your child's health care provider. A registered dietitian nutritionist also can assist by assessing your family's diet and helping you make appropriate changes that will meet the needs of all family members.