Mothers Are a Daughter's Best Role Model
by Carrie Myers Smith

As mothers, we are all role models. While I have no daughters of my own (only one-day daughters-in-law on account of my 4 sons!), I am a daughter and my husband has sisters and I have nieces, and I have learned from experience that mothers are a daughter's best role model.

Our daughters watch us live out healthy habits -- working out, eating well, talking about self-acceptance, moving for health, not necessarily for weight loss. As we engage in these activities, our daughters begin to internalize her own values that will carry them into adulthood. A recent Girl Scouts study found that a mother’s weight, body image, attitude, and health habits are strong indicators of whether or not her daughter is or will become overweight, satisfied with her body and physically active, and that daughters look to mothers for advice on healthy living.

More specifically, the study found:

• Girls clearly cite their mothers as not only role models, but also as leading sources of nutritional information and emotional reinforcement.
• Girls with active mothers are more likely to be active themselves; girls with overweight mothers are more likely to be overweight; and girls whose mothers have a negative body image are more likely to feel dissatisfied, regardless of what the daughter actually weighs.
• Daughters of overweight mothers were considerably less likely to mention their mothers as positive role models for healthy living.
• A daughter’s dissatisfaction with her weight is greater if her mother is also dissatisfied with her own weight, despite how much a daughter actually weighs.

From a personal perspective, my own mother was a great role model for eating well. She prepared healthy, delicious, balanced meals -- the same meals I now serve my own family. And while I don’t have daughters, I do have sons and I think it's just as important to instill into them healthy habits.

Whether you’re a mom, an aunt, a sister, a grandmother, a daughter -- the bottom line is that you’re a woman, and as a woman, you project certain values onto young girls. I don’t have daughters of my own, but I do have nieces, and I know they are watching me. My 14-year-old niece looks me up and down, sizing me up. She watches what I eat, and listens carefully to what I say. If I choose to talk about being fat, losing weight, and hating my body, she will become less satisfied with her own body. If I treat my body with respect, eat healthy, exercise to improve my health, and don’t focus on the scale, she’ll pick up on that, too. 

As role models, the needle goes both ways. We can be healthy role models -- or unhealthy ones. Which one will you choose to be?

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Carrie Myers Smith, a certified personal trainer, speaker and licensed wellness coach, owns Women In Wellness, a free wellness club. Her work has appeared in many national magazines and her first book, "Squeezing Your Size 14 Self into a Size 6 World: A Real Woman’s Guide to Food, Fitness, and Self-Acceptance," is an award-winning book helping women change their minds about their bodies. Carrie lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her husband and four sons.