How Kids Books Portray "Fatness"?

Hi Notaboutperfect,

I am sorry for all you went through but kudos to you for all you are doing for your 5 year old. I am going to look again, as I said it was at my son's house but I will get the name and photos. Stay strong for him

Regarding my own personal obesity. I told people that "I'm not fat, I am just gravitationally challenged".

I tell people that according to my height / weight chart - I'm too short.

That is funny, I too also told people something similar, "That according to the height/weight charts, I should be 11 feet tall".

(I am suppose to be stereotypically jolly).

:)

So that was my issue all these years! Geez and I thought I had a weight problem

I hate the way fat is portrayed in books. I remember reading Blubber by Judy Blume as a kid, and of course the overweight kid is bullied and the adults are clueless.

Another standard trope is the one where the overweight kid, usually a girl, is miserable but then discovers a miracle diet and is transformed into a swan, gets the guy, and becomes a cheerleader.

The message is the same: fat is bad, dumb, lazy, and every other negative. The implication is that thin is good, and only good things happen to thin people. It's so infuriating and limiting.

Amen. I hated that book, too.

I have to wonder if this hasn't changed some now that so many kids are overweight.

I think I've shared with you that my son is on the swim team -- there are over 70 kids from about 7 to 18 on the team (the older teens are fewer, since the usually opt to swim for their high schools) -- and of those 70 kids, I would estimate that at least 60% of them are overweight and 30% are medically obese.

I've never heard any of them making fun of anyone else for weight issues -- but maybe I wouldn't hear it? I've asked my son, and he simply states that if he heard other kids making fun of someone's weight he would stop them -- and since one of our issues is that he actually TOO quick to defend other people -- I have to believe he hasn't witnessed it because we haven't had an issue with him defending someone...

You are raising a quality human

We try to emphasize what our bodies can do rather than how they look, and that overeating is hard on our bodies and health, not that fat is 'bad'.

Ava hasn't told me of kids made fun of for anything, and she's in middle school--the prime time for all that. I don't know if she hasn't told me or if there is less of it.

Thank you -- I'd like to think so -- but it's nice to hear from someone who has raised two quality humans herself.