Mom's Dieting Can Be Unhealthy for Kids

[Phx_Dem]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Mom's dieting habits can have a bad influence on the children. Some research indicates youngsters learn attitudes about dieting through observation. For some youngsters, that might mean an unhealthy fixation on body image, experts warn.

"It's like trying on Mom's high heels. They're trying on their diets, too," said Carolyn Costin, spokeswoman for the National Eating Disorder Association.

As obesity rates climb among children, health officials are warning parents about the dangers of junk food and lack of exercise. Yet few speak about parents who meticulously count every calorie that crosses their lips.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060810/D8JDMHIO0.html

[KurtNYC]

1. Anorexia is very over-blown

and is not, as many believe, the opposite of obesity.

>As obesity rates climb among children, health officials are warning parents about the dangers of junk food and lack of exercise. Yet few speak about parents who meticulously count every calorie that crosses their lips.

65%+ of the US is overweight and less than 0.15% is anorexic (1 in 1,000).
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/anorexia_nervosa/stats-country.htm

edited: statistic and link

[pagerbear]

4. Is that a qualified medical opinion?

[HuckleB]

6. Anorexia is incredibly deadly.

Here's a good place to start educating yourself about it...

http://www.kartinifoundation.com/spotting_the_tiger.asp

[acmavm]

2. How the hell did anybody ever grow up 'normal' (or what passes

for it) before all these specialized shrinks? I mean, if my Mom was starving herself until she looked like a concentration camp inmate, maybe I'd be 'affected'. But really, there is nothing anymore that can't or won't totally screw up every kid's psyche.

[HuckleB]

7. How many "special diets" were parents on back then?

Not many. The focus on body image and diet fads is very different now than it was back then. And let's not pretend that parents didn't do things that led to big and sometimes negative changes in their children.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10219756/site/newsweek/

[no_hypocrisy]

3. This just begs the question of maintaining a healthy diet wherein

one eats a regular, well-balanced diet for reasons of health rather vanity. What is wrong with kids being brought up with soy, carrot sticks, organic juice, and granola versus soft drinks, fruit roll-ups, Kool-Aid, and sugary breakfast cereals, not to mention general junk food (rhetorical statement versus true interrogatory). This premise is so worthy of challenge.

[sgxnk]

5. jeez

like this is news.

yet another study that is just so "duh"

translation: kids are influenced by their parents

yea, there is a frigging schocker