1. Your family doctor can help your daughter set realistic goals for body mass index and weight based on her personal weight history and overall health. The doctor can also help identify early signs of an eating disorder during routine checkups.
2. Offer healthy meals and snacks, but be careful to let your daughter make choices about the food she eats.
3. You might not be able to shield your daughter from media images that promote an idealized image of women's bodies. You can, however, expose her to women who are famous for their achievements not their appearance. For example, read books or watch movies about inspiring women.
4. Support school policies that aim to stop size and sexual discrimination, harassment, teasing, and name calling and support community efforts to improve school nutrition.
5. Use the time and energy that you might have spent worrying about food, calories, and your weight to do something to help others. Sometimes reaching out to other people can help you feel better about yourself and can make a positive change in our world.
6. Surround yourself with positive people. It is easier to feel good about yourself and your body when you are around others who are supportive and who recognize the importance of liking yourself just as you naturally are.
7. Keep a top-ten list of things you like about yourself things that are not related to how much you weigh or what you look like. Read your list often. Add to it as you become aware of more things to like about yourself.
8. Wear clothes that are comfortable and that make you feel good about your body. Work with your body, not against it.
9. Do something nice for yourself--something that lets your body know you appreciate it. Take a bubble bath, make time for a nap, find a peaceful place outside to relax.
10. Look at yourself as a whole person. When you see yourself in a mirror or in your mind, choose not to focus on specific body parts. See yourself as you want others to see you–as a whole person.
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