This was a real scene at a party gathering. One older woman is talking to the other.
“Look at Saroj. She is so fat. Her baby is so skinny.”
“He was born prematurely. Maybe that’s why?”
“What premature? Couldn’t she feed him properly after that? He is already 2 years old. Herself getting fat and not feeding her baby. Bad mother!”
“Hmmm. Bad.”
(The name is not real. The incident is.)
People don’t know how preemies are born and what the mothers undergo during that turbulent time. What’s more, the child, preemie or usually born baby, each has their own ways and stages of growth. A plump baby is not necessarily an indicator of a healthy child or an underweight might not be malnourished.
While adults unconsciously push their thoughts about the ideal body views on kids, what do that kids think of the ideal body image?
A research journal published the following research findings –
What Do Children Think of Their Perceived and Ideal Bodies? Understandings of Body Image at Early Ages: A Mixed Study conducted by María Pilar León,* Irene González-Martí, and Onofre Ricardo Contreras-Jordán
Research into children’s body perceptions and ideals is scarce despite evidence of body dissatisfaction in childhood. This study aimed to understand preschoolers’ body image by employing a mixed design. Using a novel figural scale (Preschoolers’ Body Scale) that comprises four child figures ranging in BMI, 395 children ages 4–6 (54% boys) selected their perceived and ideal body and explained why they picked these bodies. Children tended to underestimate their body size and many of them desired slimmer bodies, especially girls and older participants, although body-size perception improved with age. Most children showed body satisfaction, especially boys and younger children. Ideal body choices were not always explained by beauty ideals but by physical abilities, desire to grow up, mothers’ comments, and nutrition. Many responses reflected limited body awareness, suggesting body image may not yet be fully formed in preschoolers due to their incipient cognitive development.
These studies though not conclusive do indicate the impressions of idealism in young minds. What toys like Barbies and GI Joe lookalikes do is form a kind of idea of what is expected from them as young people and adults.
What’s wrong here? The attitudes towards chubbiness, skinniness, shortness, tallness, and all kinds of comparisons create a mess that one cannot just do without. The opening of the “embrace your body” and “self-love” has the internet buzzing with young people more and opening up to discarding the comparisons. This is possible only when people are strong enough to reject what society tries to impose upon them. As children, this particular strength cannot be gathered due to the still malleable ways of forming impressions and patterns of behavior. As a result, the impact on childhood can be really negative in terms of looking at oneself with a realistic image and finding oneself growing well and loving oneself. These, therefore, make the future personalities of impacted kids who are taunted or labeled to either starve themselves to reduce weight or eat more than necessary to gain. Both these unfortunately do not take into consideration the fact that each body is unique and shaped by individual circumstances, DNA, and lifestyle.
It is imperative that young people are taught to value themselves physically, socially, and emotionally. During Moral Education classes, these concepts when taught and discussed can vastly improve the way we view these weight and body dysmorphic issues.
Let’s start from home. Value and treasure your child/children. Accept them as they are, as they grow. Love them and nourish them. Inculcate good eating habits but don’t force them.
