Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
#1
Just as you thought it was safe to encourage your daughters to start using the library out pops a book that is destined climb through the charts as a must read. upon its release in October. A diet book for kids.''Maggie goes on a Diet''
The book tells the story of 14-year-old Maggie, who according to its blurb "is transformed from being overweight and insecure to a normal-sized teen who becomes the school soccer star". Maggie is depicted as dumpy, pigtailed, wearing an unflattering jumper , staring into the mirror, presumably dreaming of a thinner self who will one day wear the tiny pink prom dress she's holding wistfully to her chest.
I appreciate there are a lot of overweight kids but mainly thats due to fast food and lack of exercise. Over to the mothers...what do others think?
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
#2
I'm not a mother but I am an 'agony aunt' and have had an eating disorder. Whilst I appreciate the need to teach our children about healthy eating I am wary about a diet book aimed at such young people and in the blurb it almost seems like its saying stop eating and you too can be transformed into a beautiful slim young girl and everything will be ok. Wrong, wrong, wrong a thousand times wrong. Sadly our celebrity culture does little to help when did Victoria Beckham or Cheryl Cole last eat a decent meal? Madonna apparently spends 18 hours a day exercising.......I have spoken to 8 year old girls who have informed me they are on a diet because they are fat. They are growing children who need their nutrients but feel they have to conform to the image of being super slim because they are bullied or feel the pressure to look the same as their mates.
I too fell into the trap of having a bad relationship with food from a relatively young age; I still do to a certain extent because if I reach the magic number on the scales I stop eating. I never make myself sick though. If I have too much chocolate or have an extra dessert I often feel guilty but I am a lot better than I used to be. It still rears it's ugly head from time to time though and alas I think it always will.
Wow, that's the first time I have admitted this in 'public'.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#3
Can you really get too much of a good thing?
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
#4
Jeane
Well done and thanks for sharing that. Critics thinks it encourages anorexia rather than eating healthier. Kids are wearing tee shirts emblazoned "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," These companies have no morals just profits.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
#5
Thanks Marek, it took me years to actually admit to anyone I had a problem. Even then most of my family and friends didn't know though many suspected.
I agree with the critics in that I think it could encourage eating disorders.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#6
I'll second that Jeane, well done, very brave of you to share that with us
It's a shame that some publishers see the need to bring out a book such as this for such a young age group. If they changed the title to read 'Maggie goes on a healthy eating plan' then it would be more acceptable especially in the current climate of encouraging kids to eat 5 fruits and veg daily. It's the word Diet that conjures up all sorts of problems.
Guest 717- Registered: 16 Jun 2011
- Posts: 468
#7
Can't believe that book is in a library! I have to admit I do see some kids these days who I do think look very unhealthy (I'm talking about the extreme few) but this is NO WAY to get them back on track! Well done Jeane for sharing that with us. I've had a few friends who had various eating disorders an I have never seen something rule someone's life so much. Much like you we all suspected but the 'A' word was never mentioned until they came out with it. It amazes me tho how different ppl see themselves in the mirror. The mind certainly can play tricks on us! You're right about celebraties all men I speak to say they prefer natural curves to stick thin. Us ladies have had our confidence knocked by the media and fashion houses.
Rant over
Keeps politics to myself
Guest 717- Registered: 16 Jun 2011
- Posts: 468
#8
Do men feel the same? All hose Beckham underwear adverts? Opinions pls....
Keeps politics to myself
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#9
Well done Jeane, it takes a lot of courage to do what you have done.
Children do not need a diet book but theirs parents might do.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
#10
Thank you all for your kind words. I was always fussy with certain foods even as a young child i.e. I went through a phase of only eating white food! The eating problems really kicked in after my Mum died when I was just 20. I would go out with the office girls several times a week drinking cocktails and quickly came to realise even though they were empty calories I was putting on weight. I enjoyed the socialising so gave up food instead.
I never particularly enjoyed food; to me it was just a way of staying alive. I would eat because I had too, but once the scales hit that magic number in my head (incidentally my magic number is underweight for my height) I'd drastically cut down or stop eating altogether. I lost weight quickly and got a buzz from feeling so light and dizzy. I didn't realise the damage I was doing. The pattern continued into my 30s. It wasn't until a woman I worked with screamed across the room one day "My God look at your bones sticking out are you anorexic" that I actually took a long hard look at myself (after I'd finished crying.)
Once you have an eating disorder it never completely leaves you. I am so much better now but when I had pneumonia and septicemia late last year I literally couldn't eat for a week. I lost over a stone and that familiar light headed buzz returned, only this time I realised that I needed to regain the weight not just for my health but also because I looked so gaunt, the skin on my face was paper thin and my legs could hardly support me.
I still have phases where I cut down on my food because the scales are heading towards my magic number again. People tell me I need to gain weight not lose it; I'm a size 6-8. When I look in the mirror I don't think I'm fat but I'm not as slim as I'd like to be, that's what I see and no one can change it. In a way I'm lucky because I never binge, take laxatives or make myself sick so I think I'm not that extreme. It's made me get away with it virtually undetected for the last 40+ years. If I was a teenager now and had as much pressure as they have from the media would I be so lucky? I doubt it.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#11
I often wonder which is worse from a medical point of view, the anorexic or somebody like myself who is very overweight.
I have put on so much since my husband died, I gradually put on weight ever since the my first child and dieted every so often only for the lbs to go on again. I now feel I can not be bothered dieting again but I feel sorry for those that will have to struggle with my coffin.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
#12
Jan I saw a very interesting article somewhere the other day (I wish I could remember) which mentioned being overweight is not the actual problem it's the dieting which is unhealthy for our systems. If someone is overweight but eats healthily and takes some form of exercise it's better.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#13
A lot of sportsmen are technically overweight, nobody could call them unhealthy. My problem now is my total lack of exercise because of ankle problems and still loving my food. I told my doctor I would rather die tomorrow having eaten what I fancied than live another ten years by restricting what I could eat. I should add I have a healthy diet there is just too much of it.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#14
there is always a danger of sending the wrong message out to kids
whilst we should always try to get kids to eat healthy stuff
they should also be encouraged to eat rather than starve themselves which lead to other problems as highlighted above
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
#15
In answer to Helen T's question here is a news item that is destined to pull in the pounds. Mine's on order.
Dubbed Manx, after the female underwear brand Spanx, the stretchy fabric is said to lift and firm flabby backsides, suck in beer bellies and smooth away so called love handles.
"Control underwear" for women was made famous when Renee Zellweger wore them in the hit film Bridget Jones's Diary. But now supermarket chain Asda has spent a year perfecting a version for the self-conscious male.
The high-waisted trunks claim to firm and flatten those unwanted flabby areas, while being invisible under ordinary clothes.
Heather Moreton, men's clothes manager for Asda said: "We know some guys worry about unmanageable body wobbles just as much as women do so why not offer them a little helping hand to look their best too?"
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#16
ohg isnt it all funny
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
