Monday, June 6, 2011

Parenting - Health - When a weight issue becomes a weighty Issue.

We have all heard the news, even Michelle Obama talking about it. There have been an increase concern in Childhood obesity, encouraging children to eat right, exercise, etc. etc.
I believe that all this is good and healthy, but when do these assessments become dangerous?
When my daughter was 9 they did an assessment on her weight at school and told me she was at risk of becoming overweight. They send this note from school open for my daughter to see. Where is the wrong in this?
Well, the wrong in this is when a child, is 5 feet tall and weighs 105 lbs they are "at risk", yet if she was 102 lbs she would be at a healthy weight. If you are an adult that has struggled with weight, 3 pounds extra on a healthy active child is not a big deal. And I understand that they are concerned that children if left unchecked would be at risk for being overweight, but when my 10 year old daughter starts counting calories, and starts getting worried whether her butt looks big, or starts weighting herself everyday to see if she lost a pound or not, then I see this as being a bigger problem.
Children, especially little girls are at high risk of eating disorders. I believe that having the school take such approach to the children's weight is more harmful to the children than if they just talked about healthy eating, and exercise, and provided healthy meals at schools, maybe make some parent workshops on good eating habits. But I think it's horribly wrong to target children and tell them that they are at risk of being overweight. I don't think children should know this kind of information. Educate the parents, educate the children, but don't make little kids feel bad of their growing bodies.

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