Fat is the New Ugly

There is an article on CNN discussing how on playgrounds the new "put-down" word is calling someone fat. Children as young as 3 are coming home and telling their parents that someone called them fat to hurt their feelings. Even if a child is not watching TV, they pick up cues from an early age about what is "good" (skinny) and what is "bad" (fat). Although many young kids do not even know what "fat" means, the word has been associated with with being blameworthy, ugly, lazy, unpopular and all the polar opposites of being happy, well liked, popular and good. So often times the word is being thrown out because of what it implies, not because the victim is actually overweight. Because children at such a young are now consumed with fat culture, parents are having to address eating disorders at younger ages. Yet how can parents address such an important topic to children who have yet to develop this problem in terms that they would understand? Is there a safe way to prevent eating disorders and obesity at the same time without all the influences?


There was recently an article in Vogue about a mother who put her 7 year old daughter on a drastic diet because her daughter's BMI labeled her as obese. Extreme restriction on impressionable kids' minds is harmful and the consequences are what set up eating disorders later on. Although this woman said that she put her daughter on a diet for health reasons, limiting everything a child eats ruins the fun of being a kid. Instead of teaching moderation and healthy habits by example, she would embarrass her daughter by taking away birthday cake at parties or limit portion sizes at dinner. The CNN article said that children learn more from what their parents do then by what they tell them. So if a child is watching his or her mother limiting her food intake or listening to mom saying "she's been bad because she had a bowl of ice cream", they'll mimic the behavior. This is also considered a gateway to eating disorders, so a well-informed parents should recognize this and watch how their children pick-up on eating cues. Raising a healthy, normal weight, and self confident child is becoming more and more difficult in a society that relates so much to the good and evils of being skinny and fat.