Baby Fat Woes
Is the media hyping fat? Well it must be. I’m blogging about obesity and diet-related stuff. I’m filling your mind with tips and tricks about how to lose weight and why you should. I’m even catering to the skinny one’s desire to perk up, if you like. I’m thriving on an industry that focuses entirely on body image and mind’s well being.
There’s surely nothing wrong with that:)
But if you twist the obesity tale and turn against a mom whose child is obese by calling her a murderer of sorts then journalism may be going a bit too far. Take Ms McKeown’s story(a mom who feared she might lose custody of her obese 8-year-old son unless he lost weight) for instance. She was nutritionally incompetant and her child’s tastes were unhealthy, so she ended up with a weight gain crisis that received unwarranted media attention. The article Digestible nonsense by Zoe Williams is an excellent expose on media-related insanity.
What do you think?Do you think you are responsible for your child’s weight?Are you giving them the right foods?Are they genetically prone to obesity? Are they T.V addicts? Do they play at all? Do you have enough time for them? In the end, you are responsible for your child but pointing fingers never was a solution.
weight gain, obesity, childhood obesity, obesity debate in britain
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:20 am
I think these are really thought-provoking questions.
I am not a skinny girl, never have been. In contrast, my brothers could eat all day and never gain an ounce.
My mother, who grew up petite, started putting me on diets at the age of six - she meant well but it ultimately contributed to a pattern of eating disorders that took me years to overcome.
I have three children of my own and I constantly worry about the messages that I send them and that society sends them. And society can be mean. A friend of mine had a large baby who took awhile to lose the baby fat (he was extremely heavy until he became more mobile, kind of a catch-22). Strangers used to call him “fatty” in public places. He was 2 years old.
Weight is such a weird thing because it’s not always indicative of a healthy lifestyle to simply be thin - and vice versa.
I enjoy the blog!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 am
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March 2nd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I just read an interseting post about childhood obesity and what some schools in the US are trying to do about it. Many are planning on adding a child’s BMI to their report cards so parents can see how their children are doing weight wise. What do you think about it? The post was here:
http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-thoughts-about-childs-bmi-on-school.html
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:20 am
Lawmummy:Thanks so much for your comment. Weight is really a funny thing. And no amount of food monitoring seems to help for some people. As parents we will have to be a little objective about our kids and help them without cornering them.
Summer:Thanks for the great link!I’m using it in my next post:)