Moms, are you unknowingly “thinspiration” for your kids?
Thinspiration. It’s what helps keep anorexic and bulimic women and men “in the game.” Whatever form the thinspo takes, it gives eating disorder sufferers the “push” they need to starve themselves or clear their systems of all nourishment.
In a nutshell, thinspiration is what turns Ana and Mia victims into cannibals.
But thinspo doesn’t always come in print or video format. It can come from a living human being. In fact, if you’re a mom, you could be the thinspiration for your child(ren).
Honestly answer these dozen questions and see if you respond with “yes” to any of them. If so, you may be creating an environment that is triggering to those with a predisposition to EDs.
- Have you ever said, “I’m fat! I need to go on a diet!”?
- Have you ever told your child, “Don’t eat that. It’ll make you fat.”?
- Have you ever allowed anyone to call you “fat” or “overweight” to your face… and said nothing about it OR just agreed with them?
- Do you make fun of other people because of their weight?
- Did you ever have an eating disorder (whether it was medically evaluated or not)? -OR- Do you engage in disordered eating (such as starving yourself or bingeing and purging)?
- Do you equate thinness with “goodness”?
- Do you praise your child(ren) on appearance rather than on actions or personality traits?
- Are you always on a diet?
- Have you ever missed a big event in your child’s life because you “had” to go to the gym or exercise in some way?
- Do you tell your child that he/she cannot eat any more food when he/she requests “seconds” instead of providing a healthy alternative?
- Do you tell your child that foods are either “good” or “bad”?
- Do you point at Hollywood stars and say, “I wish I looked like that!”?
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POSTED IN: Ana, Anorexia, Bulimia, Mia, parenting, thinspo, thispiration, trigger
3 opinions for Moms, are you unknowingly “thinspiration” for your kids?
Hope Wilbanks
May 5, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Angelique, this post is so timely and I hope a lot of moms out there read it. There is one person in particular I know who constantly puts their self down. They even talk about their kids being “fat”. I’ve heard and seen them tell their kids they’re eating too much, or no to seconds. It really breaks my heart, and I’m very afraid that one child in particular might end up with an eating disorder as they grow older because of this.
Even though I’m losing weight to get healthier, I have specifically tried NOT to rope my daughter into it. This is *my* issue, not hers. I’ve told her time and again that she is beautiful, just as she is, because I would never want her to NOT love herself.
It’s a thin line…and one I do not ever want to cross with my kids. Thanks for this awesome reminder!
angelique
May 5, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Hope:
I’ve seen that time and again, too. It makes me sick and I always want to say to the parent, “Do you have any freakin’ idea how selfish and terrible you’re being right now?”
Of course, they’d probably just tell me where to go if I did say something!
Angela Chen Shui
May 5, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Thanks for linking here, Hope. Saw it visiting from the EA blog.
Great post, Angelique. Saying ‘I recently read a short article that gave a list of negative comments about weight and beauty. It said these kinds of comments can lead children to grow up with eating disorders… did you read it?’ may keep the stones from flying… ;-)
Thanksssss for this useful list.
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