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| Body image worries in early years
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Astonishing new research from the UK shows that some children start verbalising their concerns about weight and body image as early as three years old.
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of early childhood education and care professionals said they have seen signs that children aged between three and five years old, in their care, are unhappy with their appearance or bodies.
But this figure almost doubles as children get older with 47 per cent of carers reporting they have witnessed body image anxieties in 6-10 year olds.
The research, which was conducted by the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) reveals that phrases such as 'she/he is fat' are commonplace in early childhood education and care services and 37 per cent of practitioners have heard these statements in their setting, while 31 per cent have heard a child label themselves fat.
In addition, around one in five (19 per cent) of practitioners have seen children reject food because 'it will make them fat'.
One in ten educators report that they have heard a child say they feel ugly, while 16 per cent of early years practitioners have witnessed children saying they wished they were as pretty or good looking as someone else.
Early years practitioners say they believe parents and peers have the biggest influence. With 37 per cent of providers believing the anxieties stem from peer groups, while 32 per cent cited parents. A quarter (25 per cent) say that media is fuelling a culture of self-consciousness and anxiety.
PACEY child development expert Dr Jacqueline Harding says that by the age of three or four some children have already made up their minds about how bodies should look.
"Of course, there is now mounting concern that the formation of these views (so early on in life) may develop into later eating disturbances or depression. We know for sure that early experiences matter the most and we need to be very careful about how (even inadvertently) we signal to children that they should think negatively about their bodies and how they look.
"More research is needed in this area but contributing factors are likely to include: images on TV; images in story books and animations and the general chat by adults about their bodies, dieting, cosmetic surgery etc. There is little doubt that low levels of self-esteem appear to contribute significantly to negative perceptions of body image," she said.
Dr Harding offers the following advice for people wanting to support children to be body confident:
"Be aware children are always watching you and listening - take care to talk about your own body in a positive way (even if you don't feel like it!).
Build a child's self-confidence and self-image by focusing on who they are as a person – not what they look like – for example, praise them for acts of kindness to others and not for looking pretty/handsome.
Gradually, in an age appropriate way, begin to point out how photographs and images are changed to be improved."
PACEY Chief Executive Liz Bayram said they were shocked at the high number of educators and carers who have observed body image issues in young children and more should be done to support carers address these issues.
"We have a growing childhood obesity crisis in the UK and early years settings need greater training and guidance on how to promote positive body image in very young children."
"With this support, early years practitioners will be well placed to promote positive body images as well as healthy lifestyles and to provide the advice and guidance parents need if they are seeing signs of body anxieties in their children. This could make a significant contribution to ensuring more young children can become body confident," she said.
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