42 The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 media pages referenced by participants included Feeding Littles, Our Mama Village, Dr. Becky, and Kids Eat in Color. Most participants recommended that caregivers interested in starting body neutral parenting seek out social media for knowledge and support. Additionally, participants emphasized the importance of being on the same page with other primary caregivers. Consistently, participants accentuated the need to talk through how to navigate situations in advance, to be on the same page for how to handle them. To illustrate, Scarlett described how to navigate their child “wanting ice cream after not eating all of their dinner” and how she and her partner talked through how to approach that situation. Esmeralda emphasized a need for support that she felt she was not getting: I don’t think I’ve really found a group of parents or moms where we can talk through these things or troubleshoot together. I feel like I’m a consumer of some social media on the topic, and then I’m just sort of alone. Feeling supported appeared to be integral to body neutral parenting. Discussion This co-created grounded theory on body neutral parenting is a valuable addition to the literature, given the gaps in understanding how counselors can help guardians support healthy body image amongst children (Klassen, 2017). Given the significant familial influence on body image development, counselors can consider this study’s findings through a preventative lens (Liechty et al., 2016). The findings align with the scant literature on body neutrality, suggesting the need for continued exploration of how to support children, adolescents, and their families in their conceptualizations of body, food, and movement (Gutin, 2021). Mental health counselors can consider body neutral parenting as an avenue to foster positive familial influence in body image development. Positive familial influence on body image and related self-worth can prevent disordered eating, negative body image, and low self-worth (Veldhuis et al., 2020). Thus, body neutral parenting appears to have the potential to have significant impact on the mental health and self-efficacy of children, as well as their caregivers. Based on the findings of this study, critical tenets of body neutral parenting include de-moralizing food, bodies, and movement, and reprogramming and re-parenting. The co-created parenting theory constructed in this study can be utilized as a way of conceptualizing a parenting practice that facilitates healthy body image development for families. Specifically, counselors can help families learn that food is not “healthy” or “unhealthy” and there are not “good” or “bad” bodies. In addition, the co-created theory emphasizes the need for counselors to help family members heal from internalized messages and misconceptions about health that can perpetuate body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating across generations. Implications for Counselors and Caregivers Counselors and caregivers are uniquely positioned to use the findings of this study to inform how they support children and their body image development. In this study, parents offered their approach to integrating body neutral parenting with their children. The co-created theory of body neutral parenting offers a baseline for counselors and parents to consider, and future research on the theory is needed. Thus, counselors and parents can consider learning about body neutrality and integrating the principles in supporting the mental health of families.
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