Socializing girls whose bodies may not align with contemporary ideals of thinness: An interpretive study of US mothers' accounts

•Mothers adopted varied strategies to achieve five key socialization goals.•Maternal messaging to girls with BMIs at the 70th percentile or higher is complex.•Mothers often expressed ambivalence or uncertainty about socializing their daughters.

We sought to understand how mothers of young adolescent girls who are perceived as overweight or at risk for becoming so and whose body mass indices are at the 70th percentile or higher socialize their daughters about body, weight, eating, and health. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 US mothers, and data were analyzed using constant comparison processes. Findings revealed that mothers adopted a variety of strategies - including teaching, modeling, managing, avoiding, and comforting - to achieve varied socialization goals for their daughters. Specifically, mothers sought to help their daughters to accept the self, reject the hegemonic ideal, maintain “healthful” eating, avoid overeating/monitor the self for over-eating, engage in regular physical activity, and/or navigate stigmatizing social situations. Mothers' sometimes experienced ambivalence or uncertainty as they socialized their daughters about the body, suggesting that they may benefit from professional counseling designed to resolve this tension/hesitancy.