First Lady's Mention of Daughters While Discussing Obesity Triggers Debate
By HUMA KHAN (ABC)
Michelle Obama has earned accolades for making healthy living and eliminating childhood obesity a priority as first lady. But when it came down to personalizing the issue in relation to her daughters, the remarks touched a nerve with some, and praise from others.
Michelle Obama shares stories about her family during obesity campaign in Va. The first lady made the issue of healthy eating personal last week at an event in Alexandria, Va., where she kicked off a campaign addressing the issue of childhood obesity...finish article at:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Health/michelle-obamas-obesity-comments-bringing-malia-sasha-wrong/story?id=9751138&page=1
Please share your thoughts on this issue with Eating Disorder Hope and our followers at:
http://eatingdisorderhope.blogspot.com/
Please share your thoughts on this issue with Eating Disorder Hope and our followers at: http://eatingdisorderhope.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 08, 2010
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1 comment:
I've been reading this blog from time to time,and wasn't sure how to comment on this...but here ya go....
I'm not an expert,but I know first hand how damaging it can be be when the focus is put on the childs diet only,regardless of what any Pediatrician says...
I'm recovered from my eating disorder,but struggled with it for years before ever getting help. I can't say that my mom's focus on dieting was the ONLY reason I developed an eating disorder,but it certainly contributed to it.
I was never overweight as a child,but my sister was. My mom always had her on diets. She encouraged my sister to watch what she ate and even paticpated with her in the dieting,even giving my sister rewards when she did well.
Let me tell you,that NONE of it worked OR helped her. She is still overweight and still struggles with food.
She would end up feeling ashamed if she felt she wasn't doing the diet right or ate something that was considered 'BAD' or "FORBIDDEN'. She would actually hide those foods in my closet...
As for me,in my teen years my mom made a comment to me that changed everything. As if being a teenager wasn't hard enough,she told me that I should watch my sugar intake also or I might gain weight. This comment along with being around the dieting beforehand changed the way I viewed food from that point on. I then began to restrict all the foods my mom and sis deemed "BAD" too. I wanted my moms approval as well,and so I decided that I would be really GOOD at dieting.Needless to say, it got really ugly,really fast,and thus my eating disorder began.
Only worrying about the 'diet' or 'exercise' won't fix the Obesity problem.Again,it didn't fix it for my sister,and it certainly didn't help me with my body image or the way I thought about food. How about talking about the REASONS that are leading kids to overeating and the emotional aspects of it?? In our household,our parents were not really THERE for us,and feelings were never validated,just to name a couple of things..but I know it is different for every child.
I'm glad Michelle Obama is talking about the issue,but I really hope she will be more careful. I hope she listens to all of the eating disorder recovery advocates who are offering help in how to go about this the right way... NOT by some DIET or by controlling the food...just a thought
:-)
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