Food Friday - Kids and Diets

Photo from John Stone Fitness

I read a really sad article about a 7-year old feeling the need to diet (you can read it here), and it reminded me of something that happened in my childhood that I thought I should share with you. 

When I was in elementary school we had standardized physical education testing.  How many push ups can she do in 1 minute?  How fast can she run a mile?  How many pull ups can she do?  How long can she do the flexed arm hang?  Is she flexible?  Can she climb?  Is she coordinated?  And on and on.  Then there was the weight, height and body mass index.  When I came to that part, even though I exceeded in all of the other athletic areas, my gym teacher said, "Whoa, you better lay off the potatoes!  You have too much fat."  I was shocked!  Too much fat?  Was she serious?  I had always been told I was thin, skinny even.  When I told my Mom she laughed a little chuckle and said that the teacher must have been joking.  I had very high self esteem and self worth (founded in the Lord) so I took my Mom's word and never thought of that moment again.

Well guess what?  Kids don't understand sarcasm.  And guess what else?  She wasn't kidding!  My Mom actually kept all of those test readings in my childhood scrap book and I came across that one the other day when showing my kids some old memories.  I was in the excellent category for everything, then under body mass index the notes read that I needed to run and exercise more to get the excess off.  Now as an adult looking back I can honestly say that gym teacher probably needed some serious help!  She was either jealous of my thin frame, measured me wrong or thought it was funny to put such a thing on my chart as a joke.  Why do I say this?  Because I was thin and in good shape.  Good thing I was grounded and founded in the Lord because such words could mold a kid the wrong way.

First, what we feed our kids IS important, but it is not a stress on being skinny or to look a certain way, but rather it is about health and what is right for our bodies...a way of life.  Not eating junk and eating as much healthy food as you need.

Second, words are powerful.  Words from other kids and words from adults can be very impacting, not only to a child, but for anyone.  Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."  Words or a joke that is really not funny can have serious implications on a person and need to be carefully thought out before spoken. 

Now to the present:  I talk about food a lot.  I like food.  I like to eat.  Some may call me overly passionate, or even a bit crazy.  But I like to feel good, be healthy and give life in abundance to myself and my family.  It is not how we look, but rather how who we are and how we live that matters.  I have always been thin; some would say borderline skinny or even anorexic looking.  However, I have never had an eating disorder.  Like so many people find it difficult to lose weight my body has difficulty gaining weight.  My heaviest weight, without being pregnant, was 112 pounds, but my entire adult life starting back in high school I hover between 103-107 pounds.  That seems to be my body's comfort weight no matter what I eat.  I could have pizza and Mexican food daily, or eat completely vegetarian and my weight stays in that same range...period...no matter what!  Exercise 107lb range. No exercise 103lb range.  Sleep a lot.  Never sleep.  Eat a ton.  Eat less often.  No matter what stage in life I sort of hover in that range, and guess what?  I'm OK with that!  Why?  Because I know I am feeding myself and my family good nutritious food that tastes good and we are not going hungry.  I just put it down to the fact that I am pretty much the same size as my Paternal Grandfather and leave it at that...oh, and this is how God made me.

My family: We don't diet, unless you call what we eat everyday Our Diet.  We just have a way of life that is ever evolving and we love it!

As for my kids?  They know a lot about nutrition.  They know what is good for them and what is bad for them.  They choose the good on their own.  We don't talk about weight or fat or how we look in that kind of way, but rather we talk about how we feel and putting good fuel into our bodies.  They still get to eat cake at parties (if I make it due to food additive intolerance), and they don't miss out on the special treats and fun.  They are being taught (all the way from the garden to the table) and one day they will be making all of their own decisions.  I only hope I have taught them well and that they will make decisions based on health and not based on what the world says body image is.

Do you have any stories about diet, way of life or words spoken over you?  Feel free to share in your comments, we would love to hear from you!