I'm, Like, So Fat! Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World

I'm, Like, So Fat! Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World

Synopsis

Hit the gym for a workout - but sit for hours at your computer. Supersize your value meals - but downsize your waistline. Today's media-saturated teenagers are bombarded with mixed messages that distort their self-image and lead many to overeat and others to starve themselves. When "I feel fat" becomes a teen's common refrain, how can worried parents respond constructively? With "I'm, Like, SO Fat!" Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer shows parents how to strike the difficult balance between bolstering self-esteem and offering constructive advice. Drawing on her landmark study, Project EAT (Eating Among Teenagers), and her experience as a mother of four, Neumark-Sztainer offers a wealth of science-based, practical ideas for instilling healthy eating and exercise habits, educating teens about nutrition and portion size, and talking about body image. Here is a rock-solid foundation that parents everywhere can build on to help their teens stay fit, eat well, and feel good about their looks in a world where too-perfect bodies are used to sell everything from cosmetic surgery to fast food.

Excerpt

“I’m, like, SO fat … why can’t I look like Heather?”

“Ewwww, I can’t eat THAT. Look at all that GREASE…. Wanna go get a

Frappuccino?”

“I’m being really good today: I haven’t eaten a single calorie.”

“No, I’m not eating dinner, Dad; gotta make weight. I’ll be at the gym,

probably till you’re in bed.”

Sound familiar? Even fleeting encounters with teenagers today will tell you volumes about the pressures they’re up against: “Supersize it” … but downsize yourself. “Just do it” … or just stay home watching reality TV and IMing your friends. Hang out at the mall with the other kids, where you’ll feel worse and worse about not fitting into those size 1 designer jeans, until you fs that promote obesity but reward thinness. We’re surrounded by high-calorie, low-nutrient food. Portion sizes have grown dramatically. Technological advances make it easy to get through the day without breaking a sweat. And I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but in my neighborhood kids aren’t out playing tag and hide-and-seek like we used to do. Yet we’re all supposed to stay thin and muscular.

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