When I think about eating disorders, I think of teens and young women. The thought that elementary-aged kids are calling themselves fat, wanting to go on diets and counting grams of fat is something that I wasn’t aware of. Then yesterday I read a report that says eating disorders are no longer the domain of teens and young women.
To say that I was disturbed would be an understatement. The report stated that preschool (!) girls are telling their moms they want to go on diets and six-year-old children are being diagnosed with anorexia. How sad that our young kids are becoming obsessed with their body image at such a young age. When I was six, my only concern was how many mud pies I could make and how much Alabama red clay I could eat before my mother caught me. Counting grams of fat? We counted the number of times we could jump rope without getting tangled.
Some of the disturbing trends reported included:
A study by Swansea University reported that over a quarter of children five to seven wanted to lose weight and one in six were already dieting.
A study conducted by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that 29% of third grade boys and 39 % of third grade girls had dieted. While 60% of sixth grade girls and 31 % of sixth grade boys had dieted.
A study of California girls showed that 80% of 9-year-old girls had dieted.
The reason kids are worrying about body image and dieting at an early age is being blamed on media images of thin equaling beauty. Parents who are also obsessed with dieting and their own body image can influence a child’s perception of what he or she should look like.
Some warning signs that your child might have body image problems include:
Constantly talking about their body in a negative light.
Not eating much or skipping meals.
Lots of intensive exercise.
Asking how much fat is in the various foods they eat.
Requesting only non-fat, low fat, or diet foods.
Parents have to watch their behavior. If you are constantly dieting and obsessing over your weight, your kids may become obsessive also. I have lost a lot of weight by walking each day but I make sure Tyler knows that my desire to lose weight is tied to my high blood pressure and not because I thought I was “fat”. Make sure you never criticize or joke about your child’s weight. Have lots of healthy food but also allow your kids some guilty pleasures like sweets- in moderation.
Finally, your kids should never be on a diet unless it’s medically necessary and only your child’s doctor should make that decision.
See also:
The Powerful Influence of Parents
Kid Fitness- Beware the Backlash