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Original poster

I JUST WATCHED A A VERY DISTURBING PROGRAMME ON DISCOVERY HEALTH...

3 replies

MrsBigD · 07/02/2005 21:45

SKINNY CHILDREN

I was shocked to see that children as young as 9 who look perfectly healthy and slim who think they are too fat and putting themselves through gruelling routines of exercise and starvation!

Even worse... there are actual children's gyms in the UK! Surely as a parent of a healthy child you wouldn't encourage a child to go to the gym to loose weight! to get fit maybe, but...

I have always had serious weight issues and now am worried that I might be passing those on to dd (3 and very slim because she's too active and never has been a good eater). If that gets emphasised by me setting a 'bad' example by having a bad bodyimage myself... what am I to do!?

Anyhow, shall now try and not make negative comments about myself anymore

OP posts:
kama · 07/02/2005 23:06

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highlander · 07/02/2005 23:23

OMG, that's awful

Original poster
MrsBigD · 08/02/2005 08:10

kama - I find it amazing and shocking how such young children are so sensitive about their weight and shape/size.

According to the programme and parents talking in it the main factors were:

  • bad self image of the parents, who always watch what they eat and work out a lot not to be fat, naturally instilling these fears/attitudes in the youngest (the youngest girl on there was 7 and insisted she had a fat tummy - she was no rake but I think she was absolutely perfectly build and the 'fat' she pinched was just a roll of skin!)

  • peer pressure : slim kids are better liked, more successful than big ones. They did a very simple test with 2 images, 1 slim and 1 big and they found that kids opinions are very polarised towards that.

  • TV & skinny stars : as they seem to show that it's something to aspire to to be almost a sceleton. As one scientist put it... they say 'hey I haven't eaten anything all week, isn't it great' and his comment to this 'it's insane!!!'

  • one mum insisted it were men: though I think that more affects those girls who are at the age of being interested in boys and therefore want 'to look good for them' - which in itself imho is wrong anyhow.

I'm off now to try and get some breakfast into dd

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