Michele Obama recently made headlines by announcing that because her daughters were becoming overweight , she had made a few changes around their house. Less television watching, switching to low-fat milk, water in their lunchboxes, more fruit and veggies at meals. On the surface, seemingly admirable moves as it’s generally accepted that the eating habits and lifestyles of both children and adults in the U.S. have gotten out of whack. But do these moves towards more healthful living have to be tied to weight? Mrs. Obama’s disclosure was made in concert with the launch of a national campaign against childhood obesity. So why she made the connection is obvious. Still, Sasha and Malia are at vulnerable time in their lives, when their bodies, especially Malia’s, may be starting to go through changes of puberty . Those changes often mean putting on weight in advance of growth , which doesn’t necessarily mean anything negative about their ultimate health or, for that matter, body proportions. Further, these changes in size at this time of life can be important to good health . It’s also a time when many young girls start to become more concerned about their appearance, although with our current over-focus on size in this country, studies show much younger girls are already concerned about their body size. Still, at Green Mountain, we hear stories all the time about how well-intentioned but misguided advice about the need to watch weight from parents and others at this time of life can set girls up for weight struggles for the rest of their lives. So this post is our plea to separate concern about our children’s health from their body size. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) made these excellent points in a recent press release to encourage that separation. When important figures such as parents, teachers and peers in children’s social environment endorse a preference for thinness and place an importance on weight control, this can contribute to body dissatisfaction, dieting, low self-esteem and weight bias among children and adolescents (Davison & Birch, 2001; Davison & Birch, 2004; Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006; Smolak, Levine, & Schermer, 1999)

Original Source of Sasha & Malia on a Diet?