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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think these are appalling lyrics in junior school Xmas play?

71 replies

greenwoodpecker101 · 15/12/2022 15:28

At my child’s school. For older age prImary school children. And the kids are singing a song with the chorus ‘Counting down the calories to Christmas’, with lines like ‘I’m watching the dial on the scale’ ‘I’m resisting temptation’,

They are getting young kids, particularly young girls on the cusp of puberty, to sing a song extolling the virtues of obsessive attention to food and weight, restricting eating and losing weight, presumably so you can binge eat over Xmas. Or maybe it’s just trying to instill a general fear of tasty food. I dunno.

This isn’t a genuine AIBU as I don’t think I am. Healthy attitudes to food are important. People with healthy relationships to food don’t need to panic and restrict food before Xmas.

I don’t think kids should be taught this is normal or good behaviour around food by being made to sing a cheery song about it. Especially not girls.

OP posts:
mam0918 · 15/12/2022 17:03

Context is everything.

Whats the song for? is it a xmas play where Santa (famed for being obese) gets stuck in a chimney and is trying to prevent it?

I highly doubt they are singling out and singing it about classmate Barbara whose a touch chubby to encourage her to slim down for a big feast day which wouldn't even make sense.

Theres nothing 'wrong' with dieting which IS calorie counting (you can not loss weight without calorie deficit or a big increase in energy used which would be out of healthy range to do without calorie deficit).

Understanding dieting IS a healthy food realtionship and the lack of understanding and pearl clutching at the meer mention of it is why we are in an obesity crisis.

Scotty12 · 15/12/2022 17:05

mam0918 · 15/12/2022 17:03

Context is everything.

Whats the song for? is it a xmas play where Santa (famed for being obese) gets stuck in a chimney and is trying to prevent it?

I highly doubt they are singling out and singing it about classmate Barbara whose a touch chubby to encourage her to slim down for a big feast day which wouldn't even make sense.

Theres nothing 'wrong' with dieting which IS calorie counting (you can not loss weight without calorie deficit or a big increase in energy used which would be out of healthy range to do without calorie deficit).

Understanding dieting IS a healthy food realtionship and the lack of understanding and pearl clutching at the meer mention of it is why we are in an obesity crisis.

I disagree. Children should eat healthy, balanced and nutritious foods, coupled with plenty of exercise. Talking to young children about counting calories and dieting in this way is inappropriate and harmful.

CrownTheTurkey · 15/12/2022 17:10

I would be less than impressed if I heard little kids singing stuff like that, and even less impressed at the teachers teaching them it.

Dinneronmybfpillow · 15/12/2022 17:10

Fuck that's awful. Who on earth thought that was appropriate?

StillWeRise · 15/12/2022 17:11

that really is awful
how about a PTA boycott
or picket even

GrutenFlea · 15/12/2022 17:13

What's the ending? I think that matters a lot. If it starts as mocking but someone has an epiphany, there's nowt wrong with that.

Original poster
greenwoodpecker101 · 15/12/2022 17:23

mam0918 · 15/12/2022 17:03

Context is everything.

Whats the song for? is it a xmas play where Santa (famed for being obese) gets stuck in a chimney and is trying to prevent it?

I highly doubt they are singling out and singing it about classmate Barbara whose a touch chubby to encourage her to slim down for a big feast day which wouldn't even make sense.

Theres nothing 'wrong' with dieting which IS calorie counting (you can not loss weight without calorie deficit or a big increase in energy used which would be out of healthy range to do without calorie deficit).

Understanding dieting IS a healthy food realtionship and the lack of understanding and pearl clutching at the meer mention of it is why we are in an obesity crisis.

The diet industry is such big business as diets don't work for most people to deliver life long change. To achieve permanent change most people need to get back in touch with their appetite, and develop a healthy, relaxed relationship with food.

OP posts:
Sugargliderwombat · 15/12/2022 17:25

This is crazy! Is this a mainstream or private school ?

Puffalicious · 15/12/2022 17:26

Bonjovispyjamas · 15/12/2022 16:02

I would go apeshit at them. I have a very unhealthy relationship with food and am morbidly obese, I know the start of it was when our home economics teachers set up a slimming club at school which I went to. I was 11 and not even overweight and my body was obviously changing at that age anyway.That was back in the 80s and it makes me angry now about how irresponsible they were, it's the same kind of thing for you, those teachers should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm genuinely interested how this made you morbidly obese. What did you mean? I could understand if the club made you restrict food and you ended up with an eating disorder where you were too thin? I'm not understanding how it made you over-eat. Genuinely, I'd like to understand.

Sugargliderwombat · 15/12/2022 17:27

Oh and i agree OP, research shows that dieting is not effective in the long term - small lifestyle changes are what's needed so they shouldn't be promoting dieting or calorie counting.

pursuedbyablackdog · 15/12/2022 17:27

One of the lines is "Looking good for Santa"...so depressing, and the bloody patriarchy at its finest.
What a load of drivel, what flummoxes me though, is how does this utter tripe get published and why would anyone want to perform it?

angharadsgoat · 15/12/2022 17:29

How strange. Not to mention inappropriate.

Is it old? It reads like something from decades ago,

Funkyblues101 · 15/12/2022 17:29

Whilst I do agree, on the other hand, the nation is being crippled by the costs of excessive bad diet, far more than anorexia etc. As a nation, we need to stop eating crap, even if it's Christmas.

nonevernotever · 15/12/2022 17:33

I'm horrified, though that may be coloured by a young teenage relation's ongoing battle with anorexia, and the fact that she went so quickly from having a normal relationship with food to trying to consume no more than 300 calories a day, being seen by camhs as a priority case (not that it seems to have helped much ) because she'd lost 35-40% of her bodyweight in three months and had damaged her heart and liver .

CrapBucket · 15/12/2022 17:35

Thats bloody awful. I know 2 teenagers with anorexia and its heart breaking. Plus several teenager/young adult men who are obsessed with macros and protein and lifting weights to get bigger. People thinking that 'what they look like matters' is a very wide spread problem.

IToldYouAmillionTimesAlready · 15/12/2022 17:35

Bloody ridiculous lyrics. I'd be complaining to the teacher.

Jouto · 15/12/2022 17:36

That's awful, both the song and the scene posted above. Yanbu to complain, you absolutely should.

Iknowhim · 15/12/2022 17:38

This is awful and I'd be furious too. I actually can't believe any school would use a play like this.

Definitely complain and actually I wonder if there's a way to take it further to stop it being used at all in schools in future.

dexterslockedintheshedagain · 15/12/2022 17:43

That's awful!

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 15/12/2022 17:49

Did this fall out of a 'Little Britain' transcript?

LlynTegid · 15/12/2022 17:53

Agree OP wholly unacceptable, complain to the school. Preferably in person first.

BatCheeseIsFine · 15/12/2022 17:55

There is so much of this kind of shit in schools. All the endless handwringing bollocks about inclusiveness and respect and kindness blah blah and then outrageous stuff like this gets waved through and no one joins the dots. It does my head in!

We had one about "Christmas around the world" complete with an array of practically victorian racial stereotypes representing people around the world, many of whom typically aren't even Christian and don't do Christmas. There were black, Chinese, Indian etc kids in the performance being required to perform stereotypes about themselves and even then no one in charge thought "hang on this is a bit bloody offensive" Hmm

ladyladyjane · 15/12/2022 17:55

That is a complete disgrace. I would be furious and my child wouldn't be singing that. I would be making a formal complaint actually.

ladyladyjane · 15/12/2022 17:57

CremeEggsForBreakfast · 15/12/2022 16:24

I've just googled and the whole play is a bit weird. I was hoping that the song would be in a more positive context with some expansion on enjoying Christmas but no. It's an entire fat-shaming scene for small childre. WT actual F!?

This makes me so so angry.

Bonjovispyjamas · 15/12/2022 18:21

@Puffalicious It kicked off a lifetime of yoyo dieting. I remember being delighted that I'd lost 3lbs the first week even though I didn't need to, then devastated the other weeks if I hadn't lost anything, so would starve myself, give up then binge and any yoyo dieter knows whenever you give up, you not only put the weight you've lost back on but more besides and I'm convinced that was where it started. I'm still yoyo dieting years later, even though I know diets don't work and I know that was where it all began, I was 11😡