6 year old with body anxieties

[quail]

My daughter has started talking about her hairy legs and arms and her tummy. She is not overweight, though she's far from skinny. She has a tummy that sticks out quite a lot. She's really fit and active. Her sister, who is much less active, is younger, very skinny and has a concave tummy. She also has a lot of dark hair on her legs and arms, just as I did. I used to be embarrassed about it when I was about 10 or 11, but not earlier. And I remember when some boy said I looked like a caveman and I spent years going red just thinking about it and wanted to die, and I don't want any of that to happen to her. But I also don't want to say "how about we do some mummy-daughter sit-ups and try you out with Jolene?". I want her to not care! What sort of things might I try saying?

I don't know the proper answer but the world of body image is a minefield. I would make a bi deal of all the things she is good at. Ask her to do things you know she will do well and give her praise, boost her self esteem. I wouldn't make any of this about appearance. Maybe encourage a new hobby or sport. A colleague of mines daughter had similar anxieties (at 14 yrs old) and she encouraged her to take up rowing at the nearby rowing club. She loves it so much she trains alot and is more muscular now but doesn't ever mention her figure anymore and seems carefree about it. It's the kind of sport where weight and build aren't considered. 6 years old is a bit young though.

I think it's very good advice to reassure in non-body/looks ways. It's just those moments at bedtime when she talks about it and wishes she was different.

I've never talked about dieting in front of her, because I don't diet/worry about my weight. I also happily go many weeks without shaving my legs, so this is not coming from me. I think it doesn't help that her sister is so very skinny. (Far too skinny: I would love her to be fatter, though I try not to talk about that either, she's about 28 pounds and 5 years old.) I think it is just from looking at her friends and seeing that she has a bigger tummy than most of them and darker hair - she's about the only non-blonde in her group of friends. But at dance class she's average size, no more no less. I shouldn't even be making these justifications, it is exactly the opposite of what you're saying, I'm just thinking about where it's coming from and what she's seeing.

Just sad about it. All of this will be easier when she's older. For now, it's hard trying to say the right things.

my 5 year old DSD came home from school recently saying another girl in her class was calling her chubby. she's not chubby, she's a slim healthy little girl. but obviously kids make fun of each other using words they have heard and kids will be kids. but now she keeps asking how much sugar ius in this and that? is she fat? if she grows out of something is it because she's fat? I'm like . obviously we reassure her and moistly she forgets about it, but small children shouldn't even be aware of body image never mind worrying about it!

*mostly she forgets