Vogue writer puts 7-year-old on diet Britni Danielle

I read this article, and I'm just lost for words! What do you think?




---- In the April issue of Vogue, socialite Dara-Lynn Weiss shares her story of putting her “obese” seven-year-old daughter, Bea, on a diet.

While some might sympathize with Weiss had her daughter actually been obese, was bullied by her peers, or struggled to engage in normal physical activity, many see her tactics as extreme and possibly damaging to her daughter’s self-esteem.

In the article Weiss admitted to her own struggles with weight. Throughout the years, she said she tried everything from juice fasts and Weight Watchers, to dangerous diet pills and Atkins to curb her weight, but unfortunately it seems as though she transfered her body image hangups to her daughter.

One day, after Bea came home in tears because a boy in her class called her fat, Weiss decided to do something.

She writes:

One day Bea came home from school in tears, confessing that a boy at school had called her fat. The incident crushed me, but it was a wake-up call. Being overweight is not a private struggle. Everyone can see it.

Never mind that young boys call girls names for all sorts of irrational reasons at that age, Weiss felt her daughter’s weight was an issue everyone could see. And after Bea’s doctor told her to be mindful of her daughter’s weight (she was 93 lbs. and 4’4” tall), Weiss set out to fix her daughter.

Instead of gently cutting back on unhealthy snacks and increasing her daughter’s physical activity, Weiss took things to the extreme, sometimes refusing to give her daughter dinner and often becoming irate when she ate “bad” snacks.

Weiss remembers:

I once reproachfully deprived Bea of her dinner after learning that her observation of French Heritage Day at school involved nearly 800 calories of Brie, filet mignon, baguette, and chocolate. I stopped letting her enjoy Pizza Fridays when she admitted to adding a corn salad as a side dish one week. I dressed down a Starbucks barista when he professed ignorance of the nutrition content of the kids’ hot chocolate whose calories are listed as “120-210″ on the menu board: Well, which is it? When he couldn’t provide an answer, I dramatically grabbed the drink out of my daughter’s hands, poured it into the garbage, and stormed out.

I cringe when I recall the many times I had it out with Bea over a snack given to her by a friend’s parent or caregiver … rather than direct my irritation at the grown-up, I often derided Bea for not refusing the inappropriate snack. And there have been many awkward moments at parties, when Bea has wanted to eat, say, both cookies and cake, and I’ve engaged in a heated public discussion about why she can’t.

Did all of her ranting and raving work? Yes…little Bea lost a 16 pounds in a year. But while her mother is satisfied with the results (and even bought Bea a slew of new dresses to celebrate), Bea can forget about enjoying snacks again like a regular child, her moms says the seven-year-old will always struggle with her weight–and I’m sure, her mother will always be watching.

So, how does Bea feel about her year-long journey to lose weight? Unlike her mother who feels like Bea’s new frame means she’s an entirely new person, Bea says she’s still the same.

When I ask her if she likes how she looks now, if she’s proud of what she’s accomplished, she says yes…Even so, the person she used to be still weighs on her. Tears of pain fill her eyes as she reflects on her yearlong journey. “That’s still me,” she says of her former self. “I’m not a different person just because I lost sixteen pounds.” I protest that, indeed, she is different. At this moment, that fat girl is a thing of the past. A tear rolls down her beautiful cheek, past the glued-in feather. “Just because it’s in the past,” she says, “doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

Well…at least one of them has some sense!

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