Diet Mom, Obese Daughter

The story about a New York mom forcing her 7-year-old daughter out of obesity has been causing quite the stir in the media. She shamelessly described the routines she made her daughter undergo, after finding out from the doctor that her daughter, Bea, was obese, in the 99th percentile. Having been a self-conscious woman about her weight herself, mother Dara-Lynn Weiss started a bootcamp-like training for Bea. She was carefully counting every calorie that Bea consumed in a day, sometimes denied her supper if she had eaten too much at school, and didn’t allow her to participate in Pizza Fridays at school. Months later, Bea was thin – and Weiss rewarded her with a shopping spree and feather hair extensions.

The immediate response from an average reader might be that of disgust and disappointment. How could a mom go so far as to starve and punish her daughter for having some extra flesh? Then, to reward her with materialistic goods, is Weiss conscious of her questionable parenting?

I think that there are both praises and criticisms that need to be given to Weiss. We need to commend her for taking action in her child’s obesity. It’s sad how some parents let their kids eat junk food and drink sugary soda limitlessly – when there are clearly signs that childhood obesity is a serious health concern and is on the rise. Proper parenting, I’d imagine, involves teaching kids to eat healthy and properly – in moderate amounts. Indulging in sweets is good occasionally, but if the child is dangerously approaching the line of obesity, parents need to step in and take action. I’m sure there are parents who really make an effort to provide their children with healthy eating habits, but nobody would have the guts to publicly impose a diet plan on them, like Weiss did. Weiss was brave and unconventional for doing this: she is boldly addressing the issue of childhood obesity in a way that it is absolutely not acceptable. In a way, she may have saved Bea’s health, which may have brought unwanted consequences had her obesity continued on.

On the other hand, we need to question the morality of this rigorous dieting. What kind of mental effects would this have on the child? Children are vulnerable minds, and anything difficult or forceful can easily affect their behavior and attitude. The stress and anxiety that may come with such a strict diet plan definitely cannot be healthy for a child’s mind. When we try to train children or mold them certain ways, we have to keep in mind that they are, after all, children – they are young and therefore should be free from unnecessary amounts of stress. If all mothers started to do what Weiss did, we just might end up with a nation full of slim, depressed children. Mental health is just as important as physical health and one needs to remember to balance them.