Weight Obsession and Fat Shaming in Pre-K???

I was really surprised the other day when Rachel and I asked some pointed questions.  We were outside watching some sports and there were people who were all shapes and sizes.  She observed and started asking me "mommy why do some people have big tummies and some don't?"  "Is it bad to have a tummy?"  I asked her why she was asking me these questions and she never answered.  Harmon has friend who has also been told by his peers that his mom packs too much food, he eats too much and he should eat less.  Man if I were there I think I would have wanted too throttle those kids.

It reminded me of the importance as a parent to encourage healthy eating and lots of physical activity for our kids, BUT also to teach them that we are all different.  God made us each special in our own way.  I myself was a larger kid than most weighing just 100 lbs in kindergarten and much taller than my peers.  It was traumatizing as a child to have so much teasing.  As parents we need to be examples of self-love and teaching our kids not be judgmental.

I loved what a talk once by a member or our church Jeffery Holland "To Young Women..."

"Every young woman is a child of destiny and every adult woman a powerful force for good."  I mention adult women because, you are our greatest examples and resource for these young women. And if you are obsessing over being a size 2, you won’t be very surprised when your daughter or the girl in your Sunday school class does the same and makes herself physically ill trying to accomplish it. We should all be as fit as we can be.   That means eating right and exercising and helping our bodies function at their optimum strength. We could probably all do better in that regard. But I speak here of optimum health; there is no universal optimum size."

It was hard as a larger kid in the eighties and early nineties but I fear in a society laced with photoshop is even worse.  For that reason I think we can't teach our children enough the importance of self-love and encouragement of our peers enough!!!