Positive Body Image-Related Strategies in Children’s Picturebooks

The study explores how children's picturebooks promote positive body image by analyzing 50 books through a content analysis approach. Four key strategies for fostering positive body image were identified: body appreciation, inner positivity, perceived support for protective filtering, and adaptive body investment. The research examined how these strategies were conveyed through both text and illustrations, highlighting the role of picturebooks in encouraging young children to love, respect, and care for their own and others' bodies, both physically and mentally. The study addresses a gap in the literature regarding positive body image messages for young children.