Please do not talk about a child’s weight in front of them, or tell them they need to go on a diet.
Talking about weight in front of children is associated with mental and physical health risks, and both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Pediatric Society recommend against all weight talk around children.
Yet we have an epidemic of childhood obesity, childhood diabetes and childhood hypertension. One needs to explain to children how to be healthy and why. It starts young. Or let them suffer the consequences of the above.
1. You don’t need to talk about a child’s weight in order to teach them about health.
Discussing the importance of habits (good nutrition, physical activity, sufficient sleep, etc.) is very reasonable and in fact a good thing! But the goals attached to these habits should be health and feeling good, not achieving a certain aesthetic appearance or weight goal.
2. Children don’t control the family’s lifestyle and often don’t make the decisions about what foods they eat.
Parents make decisions in the home about which foods are available, when meals and snacks are given, and when physical activity occurs. They also lead by example through their own behaviours.
Telling a child that they are too heavy or eat the wrong things puts far too much responsibility on a child for things they can’t control.
3. Health and weight are complicated issues even for adults. It’s unreasonable to expect children to understand the complexities of these behaviours.
It’s up to use as adults to role model healthy behaviours and gradually teach children about health over time. You can’t sit down and explain to a child “how to be healthy” – health behaviours are a set of skills that take years to learn, and many adults struggle with.
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