It can feel like an insurmountable task to ‘get it right’ with your child in helping them to develop a healthy body image and balanced eating habits. On the one hand, we hear daily scaremongering news of the dangers of obesity and eating too much sugar. Simultaneously, we are also terrified of our child developing an eating disorder and becoming too thin.  The culture and environment do not support our efforts, with cheap, tasty, processed food available in abundance, whilst we at the same time we continue to be bombarded by perfect social-media images. This discrepancy alone creates an unhelpful backdrop for trying to develop healthy attitudes towards body image and eating.   

As a therapist, I specialise in treating adults with eating disorders. The seeds of the eating disorder are often inadvertently sewn early on life, and by the time someone comes to see me, it can be a challenge to untangle the complex web of issues that have unwittingly influenced someone in their childhood and adolescent years. I am going to talk here about some of the common themes that arise from childhood around eating and body image, with suggestions for parents for providing positive support.