Parents face a myriad of challenges when it comes to keeping their kids healthy in 2023. One of their biggest hurdles? Helping their children cultivate a healthy body image, especially as social media bombards them with unrealistic and often heavily-edited versions of “the perfect body.”
With Eating Disorders Awareness Week upon us, a new nationwide survey of over 1,000 parents is shedding light on the problems parents have in talking about weight and healthy habits with their children. The study by Harmony Healthcare IT found in some cases, parents may be going about these delicate conversations in a potentially harmful way.
Although parents want what’s best for their kids, according to the survey, 1 in 5 struggle to talk about weight with their kids. 1 in 10 regret the way they’ve spoken to their children about their weight. For some, those stumbling blocks may come from the example parents perceive they are setting for their children. The study found 1 in 3 parents think they’re setting bad health examples for their kids.
Much of the problem may have to do with the way parents are navigating these conversations. According to the survey, 1 in 3 parents has talked negatively about their bodies in front of their kids. 32% told their children, “you’re not hungry, you’re bored.” 33% have told their kid’s deserts are “bad.” However, children and teens aren’t just feeling the pressure from parents. Sadly, 1 in 10 have been bullied for their weight.
In January of this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidance on childhood obesity, moving towards an early treatment approach rather than “watchful waiting” to see if a child outgrows obesity. A child is considered obese if they have a body mass index (BMI) over 30. The academy now recommends parents with children who are obese, as young as two-years-old, go through intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment. It recommends weight loss drugs for kids as young as 12 and surgery for kids 13 or older.
How do parents feel about this? Our report found if their child were obese, 2 in 5 parents would consider weight loss medication. Parents agreed with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation, noting the youngest age at they’d start medication would be 12. Meanwhile, about 1 in 6 (16%) parents would contemplate weight loss surgery for a child who is considered obese. However, parents would not consider this surgery until their child was an average age of 15, rather than the association’s recommended age of 13.
It’s difficult to encourage kids to keep moving and eat healthy in a world where so much is online. Roughly 2 in 3 parents said screen time was one of their biggest hurdles in keeping their children healthy. 56% said they monitor how much time their kids spend online.
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Our advice to parents? Just take it one day at a time. Put care and thought into your conversations surrounding healthy habits. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a day filled with more screen time or fast food than you’d have liked. Tomorrow is a new day! Here’s to a healthier 2023.
You can view the full results of the study here.