[lovebeingamomma]

I talk about the opposite: "You have a growing body it's so important that you eat a lot of good healthy food!". You are just handing your daughter an eating disorder if you talk about food in a negative way. So she's a little overweight, so what? Does she feel good about herself? Are you providing her healthy foods and providing plenty of outdoor time to run and play? That's all she needs.

Full disclosure: I struggle with an eating disorder.

 

[lovebeingamomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sphinxy

Yeah, I just disagree. I get that we are both trying to come at this from a perspective of health, but I will not be convinced that size is a useful characteristic to focus on. Some people's joints were built to carry more, and a young girl's self consciousness is an emotional concern, not a physical one. I think the more we focus on weight the more we lose sight of the real issues in health. Calling it "healthy weight" as opposed to "skinny" doesn't really make it any less about size and shape, which I don't find helpful. I find "healthy weight" (along with "fit", "trim", etc) to just be the current politically correct way of saying that someone is of a socially desirable size. The more we say "fat = unhealthy", the more we perpetuate a culture based on size (which is the real reason why that young girl feels like crap). We have no way of knowing what someone's fat/muscle ratio, blood pressure, or cholesterol is underneath their clothing, even if it is "plus size" clothing.

Type II diabetes is a serious problem, and yes, especially for children it is a new problem. But it isn't about weight. It's about blood sugar and putting a very high volume of very awful, very modern calories into your body. There have been overweight people throughout time, but Type II diabetes is relatively new. It's not the size of the people that is the problem, it is the foods they are eating. Size may be an additional repurcussion of eating those foods, but to focus on the symptom rather than the cause is unhelpful.

So true! Emotional health and how it relates to physical health is often overlooked as well. A girl with high self-esteem & slightly overweight may actually be healthier than the next kid with the perfect diet. If you suffer emotionally, your body will not be healthy no matter what you feed yourself. Nurturing the whole self is what we need to teach our girls! Emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually.