Now that a new year has begun, it is hard to ignore all the weight -loss ads splashed across the television and on the front of all the magazines that line the checkout till.
My young daughter is already taking notice. She pointed out one magazine and told me how pretty the model looked on the cover. When I asked her why she thinks she is so pretty, she said she liked her hair.
While I’m glad she didn’t say her tiny waist or big boobs, these images are being ingrained in her mind. I’ve heard that children as young as three-years-old can have body image issues.
That is so crazy. I’m happy to see celebrities of different ethnicities and sizes being celebrated but they are all still photoshopped. It’s not real and I don’t want my daughters to ever feel bad because they don’t wake up looking like that.
Of course, everyone wants their children to be healthy and happy, but how do we protect them from a fake world they can’t live up to?
Read last week’s The Sticky Files: New Year, New Mama
I know it starts at home. I try very hard not to let my daughter see me sucking in my tummy in front of the mirror or talking about feeling guilty for eating dessert.
I need to stop doing those things in general but it is so hard. I have always looked at food as is either good or bad. I don’t know how many times I’ve said I feel fat. Fat isn’t a feeling, why does anyone say that?
I’m going to stop using the F-word. My daughters are sponges right now and are still forming a relationship with food. They don’t need to know the difference between a bad calorie or a good one. I want to strive to eat healthily as a family, have a treat every once in a while without feeling guilty and be okay with whatever jean size I’m in.
Read more from The Sticky Files:
Raising a strong-willed child takes a strong will
Don’t let kids prevent you from travelling
This is easier said than done especially when every other celebrity in Hollywood is on a different diet. Carbs are good, carbs are bad, try a detox, do a cleanse, fast, have a cheat day … it is all so confusing and so unhealthy for the body and the mind.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be healthier and setting goals this new year but feeling guilty, getting sucked into the toxic diet culture and setting an unfair standard for our children is not the way to go.
@MariscaDekkema
marisca.bakker@interior-news.com
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