I remember thinking the summer before I started 7th grade that I needed to exercise so I could look my best as I started a new phase in my life -- Junior High (Also called middle school.) At 11 years old, where did I get the idea that I had to exercise to look good? I've never been overweight and I certainly wasn't then, and though I have a healthy body image today, I wonder what lead to such thoughts.

It's this kind of thinking that parents worry about in their own kids. How can you work on creating a healthy body image in your pre-teens? This post of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's blog has some suggestions:

• Dig deeper; If they say something that lead you to believe they have an unhealthy body image, find out why they would say something like that, what they think of their bodies and what they don't like about themselves
• Expose your children to role models of many shapes and sizes
• Don't emphasize looks -- talk about what's on the inside (this is particularly important for fathers and daughters)
• Watch your mouth. Don't talk about your own body issues. I suspect my own came from my mother, who tried for years to lose the weight she gained when she quit smoking.
  

How do you deal with insecurities in your children?