Maggie Goes on a Diet: A Follow Up

A friend brought to my attention the continuing drama that is surrounding the most inappropriate book written for girls ever, 'Maggie Goes on a Diet'.

The Guardian  posted a story on the debate the book has stirred up, noting that 'Maggie Goes on a Diet' has been branded as irresponsible by nutrition experts. It's not just on the internet anymore people! People are discussing this book IN REAL LIFE. I for one, am pleased by the controversy that the book has stirred among the public. And the book is not even available yet, with the publication date slated for October. 

In a comment in the article,  pediatric dietitian Paul Sacher, co-founder of Mend, which is an organisation that provides free, healthy lifestyle programes for families, said the book was ‘shocking.’

‘The suggestion that a young child should aspire to look thin rather than be healthier or have more energy is very concerning.While it’s important that children maintain a healthy weight for their age and height, the idea that a child should go on a diet and lose weight is not helpful and could potentially be damaging.’

What I found most startling was said by Joanna Ikeda, a nutritionist at the University of California: 

‘Body dissatisfaction is a major risk for eating disorders in children all the way up through adulthood. Six and seven-year-olds already believe that their size tells the world what sort of person they are, and that big equals fat equals unpopular.'

First off, what does it say about our culture that is inundating small children that to be happy and successful you have to fit into a microscopically small niche of thin attractiveness? Why is this, as a culture, something that we both subscribe too and maintain as a cultural norm? At what point, while we sit on our fat assess watching Toddlers & Tiaras do we think that this is okay? That we should be treating our children like objects, objectifying small human beings that have yet to create their own views and understanding of inherent self worth and value? 

This book is a problem, it is a huge problem. But it is also reflective of a self-fulfilling prophecy of the continuation of beauty standards in the Western world's consciousness. 

Fat babies? Cute. Fat children? Unacceptable. Let's tan them and bleach them and turn them into Kardashian automatons already, and leave this discussion behind.