The Weight Debate

I never thought that this would be a particular subject I would write about. But that was until my 4 year old son recently started developing "weight issues." And not in the sense that you may think... He is not overweight, if anything I think he's too skinny. (Well in my opinion anyway.)

I started noticing a change in his eating habits. When we would drop him off at nursery school in the mornings he would say "Mommy don't put alot of cereal for me." Then he started coming home not having ate his lunch. At first I didn't take too much notice of it. I'm of the mind that if you are hungry, you will eat. Then one day he lifted my top up and said "Mommy you have 2 slices." He then went on to say "If I eat too much I will be fat and then I won't be able to run fast." And this is when the red flag shot up.

I recently had a conversation with one of the mom's at the school who also happens to be one of my close friends and I realised that her daughter was being teased and picked on because of her weight. ( I mean these are 4 year olds!!!! Weight should not even be an issue.) My son and her are quite good friends and they sit and eat lunch together everyday. Clearly the other children were making mean and nasty comments and this was/is affecting both children.

I am so upset by this because this is something that children of this age should really not be vibing on. And I blame us, the parents. We make weight such an issue in our everyday lives. (We may not realise it but we do.) And in turn our children are going back and relaying these messages to each other. The sad thing is they do not have the slightest clue that what they are saying or doing is having a negative effect on the other children.

I have had meetings with the teacher and even spoken to the other parents. I know alot of people are of the mind that if it is not affecting their child/ren, or if they have not said anything then it's not a problem or it's not their problem. But this is ALL of our problem.

We as parents are there to teach our children what is right or wrong. Why does being "different" have to be perceived as a negative thing?

I am taking a responsible stand and teaching my son that there is NOTHING wrong with being different or even fat. God made us all in different shapes, sizes and colours. We should love and respect each other no matter what.