23 Dec Self Care For Your Teen and Tween
Posted at 15:00h
in Parenting
6 Strategies To Prevent Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse in Youth
By Laura Cipullo RD CDE CEDRD CDN and Mom
Photo Credit: pcfishhk via Compfight cc
Start the New Year, with self care! Moms and Dads, here are 6 tips to help your tweens and teens create a healthy self-care regimen that will decrease the likelihood of developing eating disorders and substance abuse.
- Focus on overall self care, not weight.
- Ask your children: “How does your food choice make your body feel? Energized or tired? stable or shaky?”
- De-emphasize dieting.
- Health is achieving mental and physical wellness through lifestyle changes.
- Encourage expressing negative feelings via words, art, and music.
- Gift journals or crafts for your teen to use to express their feelings when upset.
- Help your child expect and accept body changes during adolescence.
- Educate them on hormones, body changes and social changes in a neutral tone. Honor each individual’s body shape and help buy clothes to suit their individual shape.
- Educate your children on feelings and coping skills during puberty.
- Encourage your children to sit with feelings even if they are uncomfortable doing so – this helps to teach resilience.
- Involve the family.
- Allow family members to lend a listening ear or give a hug when needed. Parents do not need to have all of the answers.
