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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Body Image Issues At 9

Miss Moo has her sleepover tonight and when the girls were getting changed into their PJ's I overheard her say that her body looks awful when she's naked. Its so sad that at 9 she already has body image issues. I tell both my girls that they are beautiful and that if they eat a balanced diet and throw in some exercise they will be what they will be. People are all different shapes and sizes. But lately she has become a little bit hung up on it, constantly saying she is chubby. She is not a skinny kid unlike Missy T who is more like me (at 7 she can still where size 3 clothes) but she is not obese by any means but because she gains weight easily - as I have noticed over the Christmas break - she is going to have to watch her food and make sure she gets some exercise but that should be the same for any child even if she is overweight or not.

3 comments:

ss2306 said...

I'm hearin' ya Michelle. My daughter is 10 and we've had a few discussions on the "whole lot" also. She was a lot of the reason I got off the rollercoaster and I swear that she will never go through what I did. I think we just need to be open and honest with them and love them dearly and pray to God it doesn't get over the top.

LizN said...

I'm hearing you too. My two girls are chalk and cheese and we really try and keep all food morally neutral in the house and exercise to feel good.

it's hard.

Tara said...

Michelle, it is the same in our house. Miss 8 has always grown out then up, always a bit bigger but definitely not overweight. Miss 7, is tall and skinny. Miss 8 weighs 32kg. Miss 7 weighs 22kg!

One of the boys in Miss 8's class this week called her fat. Not too happy about it but we have assured her that she is not fat. And we work daily to teach them about healthy choices and being active = a healthy body and healthy heart = a long life.