There is an alarming statistic that 53% of American girls age 13 are unhappy with their bodies, and the percentage increases to 78% by the age of 17.
This is heartbreaking.
How can our young girls feel so unhappy with their bodies and unworthy of self-love? I can’t help but ask myself, how did we contribute to this problem, and how can we shift these horrible statistics?
Here are two ways we can start to help our beautiful young girls to learn how to love themselves and their bodies:
1. Affirm the young girls in our lives daily.
If you’re a mother, aunt, godmother, or mentor to a young girl, are you intentional with affirming your love for her? As adults, we can forget to remind the people we love how much they mean to us. Even if our actions show it, it’s good to say it as well. Speaking daily affirmation to our girls will not only increase their self-love at the moment, but it will demonstrate how they can learn to affirm themselves.
2. Do our own work.
Children are creatures of imitated behavior. They don’t do what we say. They do what we do. It’s hard to help someone in an area that we, too, struggle with internally. If you can relate to this, make yourself a priority and do the work of healing and self-discovery. Not only for yourself, but for the future women watching you.
You’re worth it, and the young women following in our footsteps are depending on us to shift our narrative.
If you’re ready to do the work to Find Body Freedom, I’m here to help you along the way. Schedule a free consultation, and let’s work through it all together.