Shocking Stat

I was reading some, quite frankly, heart breaking stats last week;

• the age that girls start wanting to be thinner is 6 years old 
•  the age that most girls start dieting is 8 years old 
•  a total of 80% of girls have been on a diet by 10 years old 

The other stat was that girls body image can be predicted by the mothers.

WOW! It’s heart breaking to think that at the age of 6 girls are even aware of their body image and their weight. They are already seeking to conform and peer acceptance is a big thing.

This OBVIOUSLY has a massive impact on their mental health & wellbeing. Some may pass it off as being part of growing up but is it really?? Should our children be focused on being body weight, size, shape & image?

I know that despite the fact that this next generation are supposed to be more in tune, more “woke”, more forgiving, more accepting, more tolerant this really isn’t the case in reality. Sigma in all sorts of areas is still extremely high.

This is coupled with stats of childhood obesity being on the rise and a focus on BMI and weight being the yardstick for this and not health & wellbeing. It is also statistically prevalent that children from more deprived backgrounds are more likely to be overweight/obese.

Here in the UK the government have been gathering statistics on this through their National Child Measurement Programme. I withdrew my daughter from these as a collective weigh in within school doesn’t seem conducive to creating an environment of health & wellness focus and it not being a weight focus.

Children are still teased by other children for not looking the same way as them. Children are still subjected to trauma because they feel like their bodies don’t fit in.

Is there answers? They are VERY complex but us grown ups in children’s worlds need to lead the way. We need to have conversations about health & wellness, we need to take about stigma & bullying, we need to approach difficult conversations in an age appropriate way, we need to be good role models.

I know that there was a time where I wasn’t a great role model for my children. I self neglected. I worked rather than cared for myself. I’d write that extra Facebook post or email rather than exercise, I’d be fuelled by coffee rather than hydrated through water. I accept that I didn’t get it right always, most of us don’t and we are doing the best we can.

This isn’t about parent/carer/educator shaming but it’s just about shining a light on some of the statistics that are out there right now. I know there’s so many links between nutrition and wellness, mental health and allowing young people to be more resilient. I also know that there’s not one answer. I’m passionate about this one and there’s so much more to come!