Last week I wrote about Dietainment and how it is influencing young girls everywhere. It is something we all see everyday but really had no idea what to call it. TV commercials, billboard ads, magazines, everywhere our children look they are exposed to these ads.
In our rapidly changing world of media, it’s more important than ever that young people become media literate, especially when it comes to unhealthy diet messages that are disguised as entertainment. Have an open and ongoing conversation with your kids about what they see in the media. Encourage them to think critically and ask questions like:
- Who is this message intended for?
- Does this seem realistic?
- Why is this message being sent?
- Who’s sending it?
- What techniques are being used to get my attention?
The strangest thing happened. I wrote the post then st down to watch a ‘family’ show with my daughter. A commercial came on and I was not paying attention. My daughter “Look mom, lose 10 lbs with that” My ears perked up and I was stunned. The timing was the strangest thing. I have never once mentioned wanting to lose weight or dieting. The word “diet” is a forbidden word in my home as it has so many negative meanings. We normally say “healthy choices” or other similar terms. On the upside, this opened up the opportunity to talk about image, weight, appearance and most of all dietainment.
I asked her (my six year old) what she thought about that commercial. She said that many ladies want to lose weight, she sees it all of the time. I was a bit put back. We talked about how the ads and commercials make people feel. I pointed out all of her wonderful abilities and we discussed what is really important. I asked her what she loved to do and what was important to her. She loves to draw and she loves animals. She said how nice a person is, is what matters.
In the next few days I noticed more and more magazines everywhere, right at eye level. They may not be intended for young girls, but they are seeing them.
Celerity magazines, health magazines and beauty magazines all mention weight loss fixes. The print is bold and colourful so young eyes focus on it.
The diet fixes and weight shaming pics are constantly being thrown in our children’s faces. This needs to end and we need to make it happen.
What can you do?
Have a conversation about Dietainment with your kids just lie I did. Do they notice the content? How does it make them feel? What do you want your kids to know about body image vs. what they see in the world?
Then sign the petition at wrote about Dietainment
Follow the conversation on twitter with the hashtag #StopDietainment and be sure to show @LifeMadeDelish Faze.ca (@fazemagazine) and Divine.ca (@divinedotca) support in this great initiative.
For more advice on building self-esteem, visit www.todaysparent.com
We can not live our lives blindfolded and neither can our children. But we can encourage them and discuss what they see.
Where have you spotted Diettainment and what did you think about it?
This post has been brought to you by Cheerios, all opinions are my own
It is such a shame that this is what young people see on newsstands. It worries me too.
Poor girls these days. I hate the message they are getting.
I can’t imagine being a young girl in this society, what a mess.
As an ADULT, I get sucked into those messages and internalize it all. So sad when more value is placed on how you look than who you are.
Amen, even I find myself buying into this nonsense. It’s so hard to tell the difference between content and dietainment!
I am not a fan either! I am seeing it way too often! And I do not like it.
It’s everywhere. What always got me, was how there would be “How to lose 10 pounds”, right next to “how to bake the yummiest chocolate cake”. So many of those types of women’s magazines are totally conflicting. How can we not be confused??
Is it really any different now than when we were younger? I guess I can’t remember, but I feel like I saw the same crud in magazines back then too. 🙁
I think the crazy question is, “Where DON”T you see dietainment these days?” It’s so sad but it is everywhere. I think positive parenting is really the only way to combat it effectively.
I am so tired of seeing magazine covers that take part with weight shaming. I refuse to buy them.
Advertising has really gotten out of control. It is important to have conversations with girls about what they are seeing on tv and magazines.
I’m not a fan either. I try to send a different mesage to my teen daughter, one that needs to be spread more.
I agree with you- I am not a fan of “dietainment” at all. I hope I am able to teach my daughter to be confident in herself.
I am definitely not a fan and wish that things like this didn’t exist. Luckily, I teach my girls how to be confident and be themselves, as that’s all that matters.
Stuff like this will always be around. It’s important to keep everyone educated about it.