Fathers play a critical role in forming their daughters’ image of themselves

Body dissatisfaction among young children, specifically young girls, has become an increasingly growing concern around the world. As researchers attempt to understand the social and environmental factors that can lead to this dissatisfaction, mothers are often the sole focus of parental influence, but three researchers found that fathers should be a more significant part of the conversation.



A large portion of the research completed on body dissatisfaction focuses on the mother’s role and relationship to the child due to the widespread understanding that girls tend to feel closer to their mothers. The relationship between mothers and daughters plays an important role in the psychological development of girls. However, fathers also play a critical role in how young girls view themselves and their bodies.



Jaclyn Siegel, along with two other researchers, interviewed 30 cisgender men who had at least one daughter between the ages of five and ten. Siegel said the three researchers were motivated to interview fathers after coming across literature that suggested fathers’ comments about their daughter weights have been linked to young women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies and the development of eating disorders, but there has not been very much research done on this relationship.



The results of the study found that open communication between fathers and their daughters about body image, weight, and health can help reduce a potential development of dissatisfaction with their body or an eating disorder. Some fathers expressed their concern with talking about their daughter’s bodies and how the mother figure handled the conversations surrounding these topics.



“I think she probably connects more with her mom with regards to talking about things about her body and that nature,” said one participant in the study, Participant T.



This father discussed how he has tried to become more aware of how he talks about his own body after hearing his daughter make similar comments about her body as he made about his own.



“I’ve been trying to lose weight over the past year and half that I put on. And so, I think that she hears me talk about me being fat or overweight. Then I think that kind of trickles down to her,” said Participant T.



Kieri Olmstead, a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in Kansas City, Missouri, said she is glad that research like this is being published.



Olmstead said she has a lot of clients that come to her with body image issues or increased fixations on their appearance and diet. The environment that people grew up in can have a huge impact on how people look at their own bodies, and whether the parents intend to promote a specific type of body or not, their comments can deeply affect their children.



Both Olmstead and the data found by Siegel’s research said that messages about health can be miscommunicated as messages about thinness or increased food restrictions.



“Kids notice when parents are dieting or actively trying to lose weight, and they being to think that maybe they need to start looking at their own bodies differently and try to change them,” said Olmstead.



Mia Falcon, a 19-year-old female, said she relates to the findings of this study and that a lot of her body image issues have unintentionally come from her parents.



“I think from a young age I was always in some sort of athletic activity, or my parents called it, an activity that kept my body moving. There was a lot of persuasion coming from my parents about staying active and working out.”



Falcon said that her parents tried to keep the diet of her and her three brothers very healthy. When they did this, she said she began to become hyperaware of her eating choices and how her body looked.



The researchers identified three main themes that are beneficial for improving the impact fathers have on their daughter’s body image development. These themes are barriers to effective communication, combatting negative influences, and strategies for discussing body image.



Siegel said it is important that conversations about staying healthy do not come back to anti-fat attitudes. Focusing on complimenting young girls’ character traits or clothing choices can still make the child feel positive about themselves without mentioning their bodies.



“Fathers play a vital role in their daughters’ body image development. As fathers continue to fight an uphill battle against an appearance-centric and weight-stigmatizing culture through con- versations with their daughters, we encourage them to support their daughters’ skills, strengths, and talents, and avoid stigmatizing language around weight and body size,” said Siegel to conclude her research findings

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