Weight loss goal

YOU only need to look at a few magazines or watch a few TV shows to see the emphasis that the media puts on females looking skinny and slim. Models are air-brushed in magazines, celebrities are praised for losing weight, and teen idols are looking thinner by the day.

But it doesn’t stop there. Even adult conversations at home revolve around weight. Adults are talking about how they need to lose weight, how they over-ate on holiday and need to diet, or how a friend looks chubby after gaining a few pounds.

Young girls today are exposed to all of that. And it translates into a desire to be thin.

From speaking to young girls at workshops, I know that the pressure to stay slim is real. All the girls I have spoken to have ‘weight loss’ as a goal (although most of them don’t fully understand why they want to lose weight).

So I pose the question: Why do you want to lose weight? ‘To ft into smaller jeans’ is usually the answer I get.

It gets even more interesting when a lecture about sugar turns into questions about botox and liposuction (yes, even with girls as young as 10).

So, if you’re a parent of a young girl, this is your time to step up. The messages girls get about weight are very powerful and very confusing.

Sit with your daughter and look at a magazine together. Talk about how perfect everybody looks in the magazines and how different that is from the way people look in real life. Discuss air-brushing and photo enhancements.

Talk about plastic surgery and other methods used to enhance looks. Discuss the side-effects, but also talk about how desperate people can get because of all the social pressures to look good.
Switch through TV channels and watch some child-oriented TV shows to understand what your daughter is exposed to. Ask her what she likes about the show and how she compares herself to the star of the show (or even to her peers).

You might also want to open up about your own physical insecurities and your issues with weight. Make sure you stress that what really counts is being healthy and confdent in your own skin, not how you think society expects you to be.

For more information on Alia Almoayed, visit www.AliaAlmoayed. com