Turn on the radio; what is almost the first thing heard every time? Isn’t it the media trying to sell diet pills, weight loss programs, or maybe a top story on an actress that put on a few extra pounds and is supposedly letting go? In the article, “Beauty and Body Image in the Media”, the Media Awareness Network informs about women and girls getting their ideas of the perfect body and life from what they hear and see in the media. Teen girls are soaking up on the media’s trends because they want the perfect body and are willing to do anything for it. Teen Magazine reported that thirty five percent of girls six to twelve years old have been on at least one diet and that seventy percent of normal weight girls believe that they are overweight (“Media Awareness Network” 1).
I would have to say that I, myself, hear this statement almost every day at school. Also in the article, it states, “Networks warn that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as five and six years old (“Media Awareness Network” 1).To me, the article should have gone more in-depth with that statement. From my own experience, when I was five and six, I didn’t choose the food that I ate; my caregiver did. Therefore, I could not even consider putting myself on a diet because I didn’t even know what a diet was nor was I making the choice of what foods I consumed. I understand when parents put their children on diets for health reasons and are told by their doctor to so, but I fully disapprove putting them on a diet because the media says to. Young children don’t choose to put themselves on diets because of their own concerns; they are manipulated by the media’s influence on their older siblings, parents and other family members.
The Term Paper on Social Media Diet
Social Media Twelve missed calls, seventy messages, and thousands of updates are what I came to after one of the loneliest days of my life. Twenty four hours doesn't seem like much but spending twenty four hours away from something so important to you makes it seem like an eternity. During my time away from my phone I found entertainment in things I usually don't do, such talking with my sister ...
Five and six year olds don’t pay attention to the weight loss commercials that are on television. If they are watching television, they are watching cartoons. The parents are the ones that are caught up in the diet pills and weight loss programs. They then look at their child(ren) sitting in front of the screen and right then and there, after seeing the commercial, decide that their child(ren) need(s) to be put on a diet. I understand that parents want what is best for their kids, but is a diet the best way? There isn’t a certain weight that your child has to weigh at a certain age. At the doctor I always hear parents asking the doctor how their kid(s) fit in the BMI chart. The BMI chart is a rough estimate and a lot of parents don’t realize that muscle weighs more than fat. I know that there are plenty of parents out there that put their kids on a diet because they, themselves were big when they were little and probably were made fun of. That’s been the “cool” thing to do in school, to make fun of the fat kid and the parents don’t want their kids to deal with that. I am a living example of that. My mom was bigger when she was younger and she didn’t want me that way but it was to the point where she wasn’t feeding me enough for my growing body.
If the doctor didn’t tell her, I would have become malnourished and missing important nutrients my body needed. Parents don’t need to worry if they were big that their child(ren) will be big. Even after the parents quit worrying the younger child(ren) look up at their older siblings for guidance and that’s another way a diet comes into effect. The older siblings are on diets because the media says it is the way to be popular and stay thin. Well, the younger ones want to be just like their older sisters and think that they need a diet too. The youngster really doesn’t know what an unhealthy diet can do to their growing body. So really the statement in the article, “Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as five and six (“Media Network Awareness” 1),” is kind of true but doesn’t state that they really choose to be on one, it is just what the five and six years see to be normal way of living.
The Essay on Parents in child’s life
Parents are an integral part of any child’s life. They are his safe haven, his stepping stones and his personal cheerleaders. They are the people who create a person in the first place hence he/she owes their existence to them (Laura, 11). They give a child his name, his characteristics and his personality. They also give him both his negative and positive traits. So, in my opinion it is a ...
A major issue about the younger child(ren) going on diets is that their bodies are still growing. Some of the nutrients and minerals they need could be taken away as a result of a diet. At five and six, the body still has brain cells forming and the child(ren) will be going to school soon and so they will be in one of the most critical learning periods in their lives. If children don’t get all the nutrients that their bodies need to grow then they might come down with health complications soon or later down the line, such as stunting growth in height or they could even be to the point of malnourishment. Parents need to realize that their child(ren) grow about two and a half inches taller each year and girls have a bigger problem with their weight than boys do; boys are more worried about their height(“Growth of your 6-12 year old”1) . Back in the article, it is stated that “Seventy percent of normal weight girls believe that they are overweight (“Media Awareness Network” 1).” If the parents are giving the kids less food than they need for their growing bodies the kids usually complain that they are always hungry and the parents normally start to ignore the kids every time they ask for a snack or something to eat. This could lead the kids to start lying to the parents and sneaking food or even to the point of stealing it! They don’t want to make their parents mad but the kids are most likely, truly hungry and their bodies are craving for nutrition to grow.
Parents won’t have anything to worry about if they start their child(ren) out with a healthy everyday plan right from the get go. If the kids get off to the right start and are fed different fruits and vegetables and learn to enjoy them then they will enjoy them at older ages. Then the parents know if the kids gain a lot of excess weight, they have a good idea that something could be wrong with their child(ren).
Such ways to do so is to keep the kids away from sugary sweets but draw them to like fruits and vegetables as a snack. Also parents could find a sport or exercise that their kids enjoy and get them involved. Kids are full of energy and need to have a way of releasing it. Sitting in front of a TV playing video games is not going to burn any of that energy, calories or carbohydrates so then that turns into fat. When kids are involved in activities they also make friends and engage in the social life. So it is the parents that choose to put their kids on a diet, not the five and six year olds. If the five and six year olds want to, it is because they see it and take to be the right way of doing things, when really they could be harming their growing bodies.
The Essay on Kids Parents Today Child
Our Changing World. Our Changing World. Times are changing, this is an old cliche'. This phrase has never had this dramatic of an impact in our world as it does today. As I watch the children struggle through many of the same issues I had as a child I see that the mindset and the code of morality I grew up respecting, seem almost non existent today. In nineteen fifty five, my life began. I was ...
I agree with everything in the article “Beauty and Body Image in the Media.” I just think they should have gone more in-depth with the statement, “Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as five and six.” Young children don’t choose to put themselves on diets because of their own concerns; they are manipulated by the media’s influence on their older siblings, parents and other family members.
“Beauty and Body Image in the Media.” Media Awareness Network 2009: 3. Print.
“Kids Health from Nemours.” Growth of your 6-12 year old. Nemours, 1995-2010. Web. 12 Mar 2010.
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