Around age five, kids start noticing how they look in relation to their peers. For girls in particular this can become an obsession in the teen years, dictating everything from how they wear their hair to what brand of jeans they buy.

With images of Hollywood perfection bombarding them daily, it's challenging to teach kids to like the way they look even if they don't have the rail-thin physique of a super model or the rippling muscles of a professional athlete. More than 80 percent of 10-year-olds are unhappy with their weight and almost half of 10 and 11-year-olds try dieting, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. By age 17, three in four girls will dislike their bodies.

But there are plenty of things parents can do to help their kids feel good about the way they look. Most importantly, parents can model behavior that emphasizes good nutrition and an active lifestyle over calorie counting and physical perfection.

This can be difficult for us middle-aged moms who worry about our own changing appearance. If we spend too much time examining our waistlines in the mirror there's a good chance our daughters will do the same. So try to be aware of the messages you are sending to your kids about your own body image.

In a recent Parents Action for Children online newsletter, actress and children's authorJamie Lee Curtis talks about her personal rebellion against Hollywood beauty ideals and the lessons she has tried to teach her own children. Journalist Marilyn Rauber examines the growing need for anti-obesity programs to focus on the problem of negative body image in kids.

As parents, we can't shield our kids from the realities of the world they live in, but we can let them know in small ways everyday that it is the inner qualities that matter most.