Weight issues for teens often develop because of social and mainstream media promoting unhealthy body ideals. While many body image issues for teens can be related to being overweight, teens can also obsess about their external appearance to the point where they become dangerously underweight and malnourished.
Life coaches can support parents by instilling their teens with greater self-worth and teaching them to make healthier life choices.
Teach Them to Make Healthier Choices
Weight issues in teens often stem from how they view themselves, and they need to change how they look to feel good about themselves. By shifting their focus to being fit and healthy, teens can be guided towards developing healthier food choices based on how they feel rather than how they look.
Setting Realistic Goals
Every teen will have things about themselves they feel needs to change. While it’s great to have goals, they should be realistic. Attempting to mimic the looks of a celebrity they follow online can be a concern, especially considering many of these images are edited and not indicative of what’s normal or healthy.
Teen life coaches can assist teenagers set realistic goals for themselves, so they are not sacrificing their health while chasing an unrealistic ideal,
Control Their Internal Narrative
Controlling the internal narrative to change it from negative self-talk to positive encouragement is a skill that life coaches can pass on to teenagers struggling with low self-esteem.
How Parents Can Help
A life coach is a skilled professional who can help teens successfully navigate many of life’s challenges. However, a teenager’s home life and the behavior of their parents or guardians will significantly influence their outlook.
Parents can support their children by being good role models. When parents embrace a positive body image and take care of themselves, their children will adopt more positive and realistic values about themselves. If parents make unhealthy choices with food, exercise, and sleep, it’s not unreasonable to expect their kids to do the same.