Children's Book About Dieting: Harmful or Helpful?

[ThDWgeek]

Hmm. My opinion of this is entirely dependent on whether the book is "eating a well-balanced diet consisting of all types of food means you'll be healthy" or "stay away from food that's even been close to sugar or you'll turn into one of those fat kids".

 

[Hotwire]

Hmm. My opinion of this is entirely dependent on whether the book is "eating a well-balanced diet consisting of all types of food means you'll be healthy" or "stay away from food that's even been close to sugar or you'll turn into one of those fat kids".

That's a good point.

My thoughts went like this.
If this book was used as a tool by the parents and pediatrician as a way to help a young overweight girl with self image issues, to get healthy, both physically and mentally, then great. However, just throwing it out to the masses, where just any young girl can read it, could possibly do far more harm than good.

It's one thing to teach your kids to love themselves for who they are, and to have a positive self image, regardless of how they look, but it's something else if this puts their physical health at risk.

 

[Mandalore464]

There's not enough time in the day for the amount of exercise you'd have to do after consuming 5,000 calories in 1 day. So your plan is flawed, though it would be a dream forsome people.

Then you don't need 5000 calories a day and shouldn't consume them.

My post gave the impression I meant you could stuff your face all day long but actually what I meant was eat whatever you want, whenever you're hungry, as opposed to all the talk we hear about only eating three times a day at given hours, which is bull.

I can eat any time of the day and never EVER look at what I eat nor how much I eat, I just don't just sit on my arse afterwards.

Now if people don't have the discipline to stop eating once they're full, they have a serious problem.

 

[November Rain]

I think children should be taught at an early age about nutrition and what is good for their body and what isn't.

however, if they want to keep healthy, it's up to the parents to give them a active lifestyle.

teachings of nutrition should never be related to physical appearance to a young person

in any case 99% of a child's size and shape is completely dependant on the parents so maybe the parents should get these books instead.

 

[Manic]

Then you don't need 5000 calories a day and shouldn't consume them.

My post gave the impression I meant you could stuff your face all day long but actually what I meant was eat whatever you want, whenever you feel hungry.

Now if people don't have the discipline to stop eating once they're full, they have a serious problem.

That's still a slippery slope. Lots of people confuse thirst for hunger, and eating whatever you want when hungry (or "hungry") could lead you to taking on too much food all at once. And sometimes tons of calories can be jam-packed in foods that don't seem particularly filling. I've eaten well over 1,000 calories worth of cashews in a single sitting before. How? By eating more than a handful.

 

[Mariselle]

"A woman can never be too rich or too thin." - The Duchess of Windsor

 

[Victarion]

You'd be shocked at the sizes they sell at some Big & Tall stores.

Also, you may have eaten one piece of pie too many if you have no choice but to shoot from the hip because your arms no longer reach high enough.

We shipped some clothes last Christmas; there were a pair of lady's pants (judging from the pattern) that were so large that I could fit my entire body into one of the leggings.

 

[Teelie]

And one of Britain's top weight loss organizations agrees it's dangerous.

Alison Wetton, CEO of All About Weight, labels the book as a:

"Dangerous weapon promoting the message of body dissatisfaction among a highly vulnerable age group.

This is the wrong way to spread the message despite acknowledging children's needs for more encouragement to be active and eat healthily. In her view it would simply encourage youngsters to concentrate on their body image, which is linked to a variety of appalling consequences like depression, eating disorders and bullying."

Her weight loss organization does not cater for children because Wetton believes that prescribed diets for youngsters have a negative psychological effect, labeling the children as "fat". She says, "The way we help with childhood obesity is by changing adults' attitudes to eating, and hope parents will adapt and extend the healthy eating habits they learn on their All About Weight plan to the whole family."

Alison added that consultants/mentors in her weight loss organization also encourage members to exercise as much as possible according to their ability; another benefit they could pass on to their children.

She concluded by saying:

"Losing weight is as much a process of education as it is a matter of will-power. Prevention is better than cure, and if we bring our children up with a healthy attitude to food and exercise, and teach them why it is the best way to live, we won't have any Maggies looking sadly at themselves in the mirror!"

Medical News Today

She is quite right to say it should be up to adults, specifically parents, to adjust and encourage proper eating habits and regular exercise as opposed to a book telling little girls they're fat and should be ashamed.