Fostering Positive Body Images in Girls

Diet culture, a system of beliefs that worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, is internalized by girls at a young age. In fact, according to a recent study from Common Sense Media, 80% of 10 year old girls have been on a diet. 

 

At Roland Park Country School, one of our core values is to “live healthy and be well” and we want all of our students to thrive. Therefore, we were thrilled to welcome Chrissy King, a writer and author of The Body Liberation Project, speaker, strength coach and educator as the featured speaker for the annual Doug and Carol Croft Linde, 1982 Health Colloquium on October 1. Chrissy has a passion for creating a diverse and inclusive wellness industry and empowers individuals to stop shrinking, and start taking up space, and use their energy to create their specific magic in the world. Chrissy has been featured on The Today Show and in SELF, SHAPE, Health, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, Muscle and Fitness, and Livestrong, among others. With degrees in Social Justice and Sociology from Marquette University, Chrissy merges her passion for social justice and her passion for fitness to empower individuals within the fitness and wellness industry to create spaces that allow individuals from all backgrounds to feel seen, welcome, respected, and celebrated. 

 

Chrissy spent the day meeting with students in Lower, Middle and Upper School to talk in age-appropriate ways about body positivity and how to cultivate compassion, love and gratitude in themselves and others. She explained the role of genetics in creating bodies of all shapes and sizes and how diet culture can impact body image. “The more we can embrace our bodies and be grateful for them, the better off we will be,” she told the Middle and Upper Schoolers.“We are inherently worthy because we exist and despite what the world tells us, this body is just the vessel that allows us to have a human experience.”

She encouraged the Middle and Upper School students to be mindful of how social media can distort the way we look at the world and ourselves and gave suggestions of how to set boundaries and take breaks to manage this. Chrissy also suggested that the girls consider the concept of food neutrality, develop a fun movement practice, refrain from judging others, and find a trusted confidant to share their feelings. Students asked thoughtful questions about body positivity, shared their personal affirmations, and chatted with their peers about their own personal experiences. Later, the girls reflected on Chrissy’s presentations through journal exercises.

 

Chrissy also spoke with the Lower School students about how our differences make us unique and how to appreciate and celebrate this, encouraging the girls to share what makes each of them special. “We would all be boring if we were the same,” one third grader pointed out during her talk.

 

 

In the evening, Chrissy spoke with our parent community to discuss similar topics, as well as weight stigma and touched upon the role diet culture plays in social hierarchy, privilege and status. She also provided tips for how to reduce the impact of weight stigma on children and how to help them foster positive body images at a young age.

 

It was an enlightening day for both students and parents and Chrissy’s encouragement to reflect on our own thoughts and beliefs pertaining to weight and the reminder of our own self-worth gave us all much to reflect upon. We are so grateful to Chrissy for sharing this important work with our community. For additional resources and information from Chrissy King, click here.

 

The Doug and Carol Croft Linde, 1982 Health Colloquium allows RPCS to engage nationally recognized wellness speakers and researchers annually to work in partnership with our students, employees and parents – as well as the local community. These academic seminars with industry professionals enable RPCS young women to explore their interests in mental and physical health while also equipping them and their families with the tools and insight needed to flourish across any stage of life. The Colloquium was originally funded by past parent and former trustee James (Jim) Robinson and supported through the Annual Fund.