Understanding self-worth and how to support your child to improve it

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Most people evaluate their self-worth or self-esteem based on a variety of things.

They may calculate how happy they are based on how well important things in their life are going.

People with eating disorders and/or negative body image tend to judge their self-worth based largely on their shape and weight and their ability to control these things.

While they may have other interests, these can begin to take a lesser place in their lives.

Your child’s self-worth pie chart may look like the following:

When body shape and weight are one of the things that matter most to your child, their self-worth will be dependent on how they feel about their body.

Ideally, self-worth remains the same, despite bad body image days.

Activity:

Offer to sit with your child and consider the ways in which they judge their self-worth.

List 5 things in order of importance. (The best way to judge this is to consider: if something goes wrong in this area, how much does it get to you/ affect your day).

Draw up a current self-worth pie chart and create a future self-worth pie chart . Reflect on the differences that exist.

Consider what behavioural and thinking style changes would help to achieve the future self-worth pie chart. Begin to implement these!