How Kids Books Portray "Fatness"?

I love being a Nana, it's the reason I get up in the morning. Gavin is 3 and Logan is 1 1/2. When I get to their home and those little arms reach out for me I melt. One of the pleasures of being a Nana is reading books. Now, maybe it's always been this way and I am just too old to remember back that far with my son.... But when I read their books I noticed over and over again a theme of how they reference and use the word "fat". Don't get me wrong being overweight is not good and should be addressed but there are better ways to address it. It makes me feel uncomfortable, and concerned. I will try and give you a couple of examples....

I was reading a book about "bellys" and several times it said fat belly was bad, flat belly is good. One page said you don't want to be so fat you don't want to fill up two pages. It showed a guy so big he filled up the two pages. Another one is about a little caterpillar and when he ate too much they referred to him as fat several times. One time Gavin looked down at his little belly and said he was fat! There is a book about a family of bears and uses the word fat often. WTHeck?

Reaching out to all the Mom's, Nana's, Grandmothers or what every your little ones call you and asking? Do you see this or is it just me because I lived the horror of a fat person my entire life? Do you agree, this is not good and makes our kids have body issues before they know what body issues are? Not to mention telling them Fat is bad and gives to future bullying in my opinion!

Thanks....

PS..the next time I see them I am going to take screen shots and share what I am speaking of

Yeah, I would not like to read those books to my toddler. Body acceptance is important and there are better ways to teach kids to be healthy than to make fat "bad". Especially in small children. There is enough out there already without inundating them at that young, impressionable age.

I'm not a mom or grandma, but I do work in a preschool and hope to be a mom one day. I think that belly book sounds so upsetting.

Kids are too young to be worrying about fat, instead we should be teaching them about healthy like being active and eating well.

I remember being five or six years old when I first cried about being fat. Seriously, I sobbed uncontrollably about having a fat belly. I started my first diet , in secret, around that age. Since then weight has been a battle and body image has been a war. Kids pick up on the shame that comes from being fat, and there is no way on Gods Green earth any child should be hating their body that young.

I am your least PC person you will know LOL but it's a theme in the books. I don't think we should even use "fat" to rhyme as they do. He has the cutest little belly that "all" toddlers do and I couldn't believe it when he pointed to his belly and said that. You are adorable, cute, wonderful and showed him Nana's belly. I know, I know, may cause nightmares

In addition to those blatant examples, more overt ones are just as troubling.

Characters who are fat are usually a bit slow, lazy, dumb, selfish, villainous, and/or bumbling... even if lovable.

Think of Fred Flintstone, Winnie the Pooh, Dudley in Harry Potter, Piggy in Lord of the Flies, Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, etc.

Really, we are teaching children fat shaming by way of the characterizations in their literature and cartoons.

My little one is 7 and I stopped reading those books that referenced the "F" word. He would definitely poke at his little belly and claim it to be fat. It took some talking to get him to understand that he is not fat and he is perfect. Negative body image issues are real and are introduced at a young age. There was no way I was going to allow a book to make him feel ashamed.

I would not read them either and I don't think my kids have connected the dots. When I read the books I don't say the F word and skip over and but that little stinker is so darn smart he corrects me most of the time Nana is going to keep an eye out for the situation

My 5th grade teacher suggested that I read "Nothing is fair in 5th grade" because it would be inspirational. Here is the description, tell me your thoughts...

Elsie was gross. Her eyes were squished above cheek bubbles of fat. Her chins rippled down her neck. She really didn't have a waist except where her stomach bulged out below her chest. Her legs looked like two bed pillows with the ends stuffed in shoes. I knew everyone hated having Elsie in our room.

When Elsie Edwards joins Mrs. Hanson's fifth grade class, no one wants to even look at her much less make friends. But when Jenifer is asked by Mrs. Hanson to show Elsie around school on her first day, she has no choice but to oblige. "Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade" tells all about the hardships that Jenifer and her friends go through being in the fifth grade. Mostly, though, it is about Elsie Edwards and her transformation from just "the fat girl" to Jenifer's friend.

It is true that no one is thrilled to have Elsie in their class, but things get worse when lunch money begins to disappear. Everyone who buys lunch brings two quarters and suddenly those quarters start to go missing. Of course everyone suspects that the culprit is Elsie -- well, the students do anyway. Mrs. Hanson finally decides to inform the principal who announces that he thinks he knows who did it. That day, Jenifer figures out for herself who it is. While at the 7-Eleven buying milk, Jenifer spots Elsie buying licorice whips with two quarters! When she say****o Elsie, Elsie knows that she has been caught.

As Jenifer begins to find out what kind of trouble Elsie has at home, she starts to get friendly with her. Then, she has a great idea! Since she has not been doing so well in math, she asks her mother if Elsie can tutor her. Jenifer's mother can pay Elsie fifty cents per hour, and that way Elsie can pay back all of the money she stole. But what happens when the book club money goes missing? It is throughout the course of tutoring Jenifer -- and her friends -- that Elsie finds out that things aren't always going to be so bad.

"Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade" is a great book for the older elementary school crowd. Not only is it an entertaining read, but it teaches about accepting people for who they are and not judging a book by its cover.

"Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade" is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

I actually read this book in the 5th grade.

This is a very old title and definitely on the classic kid lit genre. I have a love/hate relationship with it -- I hate it because the obese character actually steals food and is "gross" -- I liked it because it portrays the hate and bullying of that age group pretty accurately.

I was not fat yet in fifth grade. Susie Smith was obese -- and I remember all the boys squealing like pigs and shouting "Suuuuuuuuuuu-eeeeeeeeeeee" as she walked down the hall. I remember how they put a can of Alpo in her lunch box... and I remember reading this book with her in class.

Awful.

This topic hits home for me not only because I was overweight starting around 5, but also because I have a five year old. In the past year I've (clearly) made a lot of changes, but have tried to teach my son that I'm changing because I want us to eat healthy-not because of my weight. He is reaching an age of self awareness, and is on the higher end of the weight spectrum, so I worry all the time about how he will be affected by media and other kids comments. I have not come across this belly book---but I would get rid of it!!