Creating Healthy Habits in Teenage Girls

With obesity striking our nation in a big way over the past few decades, more and more parents are concerned with their child being overweight. However, what about children on the opposite side of the spectrum. Eating disorders and false body images plague thousands of teenage girls across the country. Here are three ways to help your teenage daughter create healthy habits and a positive body image.

Don’t Focus on Weight

If you yourself are always worried about your body weight and are into counting calories, those characteristics might unfortunately rub off onto your daughter. While being mindful of the food you put into your body is important, try to focus less on the weight aspect and more on the healthiness of it. For example, instead of counting calories in snacks, encourage your kids to eat fruits and vegetables as snacks because it will help give them the fuel they need.

If you notice your daughter starting to count calories, try to reign her back in and place the focus more on the nutritional value of food instead of the caloric intake. This will help her to make healthy decisions without obsessing over potential weight gain.

Working Out

Exercise is an important part of maintaining a healthy body, and it has been proven that people who live a sedentary lifestyle have more health problems compared to those that are active. However, if you notice your daughter is working out to lose weight, try to change their mental focus onto working out to stay healthy. By emphasizing the fact of staying healthy versus weight loss or gain, you can help your daughter create a healthier outlook on exercise.

Indulge a Little

Your daughter will never have the great metabolism that they have in their teens again. Although it’s important to encourage healthy eating and exercise habits, it’s equally important to encourage your daughter to indulge a little. For example, if they want to have a slice of chocolate cake after dinner, let them enjoy every bite without feeling any guilt or shame. In fact, by eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis, it’s important for people to indulge every once in a while.

Raising a teenage daughter is a tough job, especially when it comes to instilling a healthy body image. However, by encouraging healthy habits, you can help your daughter to feel better about their body.

To learn more, contact our office today!