Developmental Journal 8

Body Image

                I think body image is something that everyone can relate to and occasionally struggles with. I started becoming aware of body image in high school and throughout my college years. I am conscious of what I eat and try to exercise to stay healthy. Every since I can remember my mother and aunts have always talked about how much they weigh, how much weight they need to loose, and what kind of diet they were on. Weight and diet talk was a constant subject growing up and it made me aware of the importance of weight at a young age.

                While sitting at Thanksgiving with my family, again the topic of weight came up. My aunt was discussing the new exercise class she was taking and my mother was complaining about how much she weighed. My 10 year old cousin then chimed in with the fact that she needed to lose one pound to maintain her goal weight. I am pretty confident that she said this for a reaction, but it struck me at what age we develop the idea that we need to weigh a certain amount. The idea that my 10 year old cousin thinks she has a goal weight and is already trying to lose the healthy weight she is gaining as she grows disturbs me. My family are naturally small people, but my aunts and mother do struggle with maintain a healthy body weight. My cousins and I have constantly be subjected to the idea that being thin is the ideal and that we always need to be on a diet. As much as I think my cousin said this statement for a reaction I am frustrated that she even knows the concept of a diet. Girls are bombarded by the media with ideas of the perfect body and having a family that feeds into this idea doesn’t help. In my opinion it is only a recipe for disaster, a sick social cycle. Instead of being taught about the gloriousness of being thin, parents and the media should be promoting being healthy. Thin is not always healthy, and I am not immune to the notion that we as a nation have a serious weight issue, but the goal should be being healthy, not underweight. I know about the pressure to be thin and I don’t want my cousins to have to feel that same pressure (high hopes I know). As confident as I am about my cousin’s statement, I am not inside her head and there is still the possibility that she already believes she weighs too much. I just wonder if my family realizes that when they discuss their weight and diets that it is having an impact on the children around them.