I'm all for healthy eating. I like to eat organic, sustainably raised, locally grown. I like political activism. I'm attending a rally against Monsanto. You know where I'm coming from.
I also believe that our society makes far too big a deal about image. I live in Los Angeles where the message that the fashionable-and-thin-people-are-the-beautiful-people-are-the-people-who-are-worth-your-time message is day and night pounded into our souls.
I've heard little girls as young as 8 years old being worried about their weight and on a diet. I've heard these little girls asking each other "How much do you weigh?" One is never too young to start complaining about one's size, shape, skin, nose, hair and every imagined physical flaw.
And where do our little girls learn these destructive behaviors?! Television, yes. Movies, yes. Peers, yes. But, primarily, unfortunately, they learn these destructive behaviors at home! How many of us complain in front of our children about our appearances? How many of us whine aloud about the way we look in our bathing suits? How many of us complain of having "nothing to wear" or "nothing that fits"? How many of us pile our grocery cards with "diet" and "lite" products and are constantly counting calories.
As mothers I really think we need to always be on our guard that we don't project onto our children the message that your worth is tied to your appearance.
And then........
Lord have mercy........
I read this from our First Lady: In an exclusive post published on Shine today, First Lady Michelle Obama offers some advice, drawn from her own experience, about the Affordable Care Act and how parents can get the most out of visits to the pediatrician. One of her suggestions: Learn about your child's BMI.
The First Lady was surprised to learn that her daughters' BMI numbers were "creeping upwards." "I didn’t really know what BMI was," she writes. "And I certainly didn’t know that even a small increase in BMI can have serious consequences for a child’s health. (Source: Yahoo! Shine.)
The First Lady was surprised to learn that her daughters' BMI numbers were "creeping upwards." "I didn’t really know what BMI was," she writes. "And I certainly didn’t know that even a small increase in BMI can have serious consequences for a child’s health. (Source: Yahoo! Shine.)
DO THESE CHILDREN LOOK OVERWEIGHT TO YOU?!
First of all: These are GIRLS in their awkward PRETEEN and EARLY TEEN years. And your mother goes national (and international?) with the news that your BMI is too high and she's put you on a diet! Can you even imagine?! What does that do to a child's self-image? Can we please schedule some inner healing sessions for these children. I think this could be considered step one in setting a kid up for an eating disorder.
Secondly: I think the Body Mass Index is a stupid health fad that feeds the frenzy. According to the BMI calculators that I did online Gana and I are both in the upper end of what is acceptable--about one or two points away from being "overweight." If Gana gains 4 pounds he'll be medically overweight. That's ridiculous! What's more idiotic is that according to the CDC's own online BMI calculator I could lose 12 pounds and still be considered a healthy normal weight. I'm telling you, if I lost 12 pounds I'd look emaciated.
OK, here's the formula for health: Eat real food. Stay active. Be happy with whatever size and shape you are. We are all not meant to be size 2!
Thirdly: How difficult it must be for any presidential children to grow up in the public eye! I can't even imagine the home-sweet-fishbowl of their life! And then to have your parents talk openly and candidly on TV and news outlets about things that should only be discussed around your own kitchen table or whispered in those intimate late night confidences that mothers and daughters share. Three words: Breech of trust.
Well, I'm putting away the soapbox. If this subject interests you (and I think it should interest all mothers of girls!) read these posts from the archives and let me know what you think:
If we are to ever achieve balance--healthy AND happy with ourselves, if we are ever to pass along a healthy self-image to our daughters, if we are to ever counter the world's message, it must start with us, not with "fixing" and "micro-managing" our children.
5 comments:
Good post, Daja.
Well said Mrs. G. Now only if you could get all of america and the pres and his mrs to read it.
Don't all children go through periods of weight gain before a growth spurt? Let's use common sense, people! And quit the idea that we all fit the same mold!
I was told constantly that my 12 yo was overweight when she was small. I refused to listen to them or change her diet much. They wanted me to feed her more juice and things with lots of chemicals in them.
We eat fairly healthy and I told them I didn't agree with them. (them being the health care professionals). She is now a very trim looking 12 yo that wears a size four and it isn't overweight at all. She is hardly ever sick. Which is more than I can say for a lot of her peers.
BTW my husband took a look at your blog last night and thought that it was great! We are praying for the little baby.
How fun to hear a man read my blog! There are only a few! LOL
Thank you for praying for this precious baby!
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