3 Ways to Help Your Child Have a Positive, Self-Image Now and In The Future
Children with good, self-esteem levels lead healthier, happier lives
My children are growing up fast, and I’m happy to say that they all have a positive, self-image. And I really believe this is essential to being happy and healthy now…and in adulthood. In fact, according to a study quoted in Developmental Psychology , “the authors found that adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects, and higher levels of criminal behavior during adulthood, compared with adolescents with high self-esteem.”
From my experience, guiding children to have healthy self-esteem takes effort, and there are many ups and downs along the way. That’s why I’d like to share my thoughts with you on…
3 Ways to Help Your Child Have a Positive, Self-Image
Spend time with your children
I think this is the most important step because you need to know your children well, how they react to certain situations and what is going on in their lives. Create a safe environment for them where you can build trust, and let them know they can talk to you about anything.
So many children are alone in this world without good, role models to guide them along the way. With this in mind, I think it is very important to be careful how we act and what we say around our children. Even if we are having a bad day, it’s important to try to stay positive and avoid speaking negatively about others and ourselves.
Our kids are watching and listening and will pick up on the image we portray. It’s a good idea to be the kind of person we want our children to be, and we need to let them know we are there to help them work through their problems… no matter how big or small they may be!
Promote a healthy diet and exercise
As many of you know, creating beauty from within with a healthy diet and exercise is very important to me, and I’ve shared these values with my children. And I’m glad I did. According to research from the American Psychological Association
, good nutrition and at least 60 minutes of daily exercise are “the building blocks for strong growth, healthy development and lifelong wellbeing for children.”
To help our children have a positive self-image, I think it’s important to make eating healthy foods a fun part of each day. Create meals together, and explore different kinds of physical activities to see what they enjoy most. Also, remind your children that everyone has their own, special characteristics, and that they do not need to look like their friends or celebrities to be beautiful.
Provide healthy encouragement
To create a healthy level of self-esteem in our children, I think we should provide just the right amount of encouragement. Let them know that they can, and should, try new activities and that we will be there for them whether they fail or succeed.
Teach them how to work towards specific goals. Then, provide praise for each success along the way without too much criticism. “It takes a lot of praise to outweigh one criticism,” according to the RaisingChildren.net.au article, Praise, encouragement and rewards. “Experts suggest trying to praise children six times for every one time you criticise them.”
When there are setbacks, I think it’s important to talk to our children about what they did correctly and how they can improve. If you coddle and reward them for everything, you are not helping them grow. Don’t forget that children need to learn from their own mistakes, insights from their peers and watching others too.
Improve a Child’s Self-Esteem with Support
While it’s important to spend time with your children, guide them to eat well and exercise, and
encourage them to try new activities, one essential component to raising a healthy and happy child that we my forget is… Love!
Whenever possible, we need to let our children know that we love them and that we are there for them no matter what happens in life. This way, they will have the supportive environment they need to blossom now, and become healthy, confident, adults.
What is your favorite way to encourage your children?
