Dangerous Adolescent Dieting

If you were an alien landing on earth with a mission to find out what’s most valued in North American culture, you would have to write the terms body image and appearance near the top of the list in your field notebook. The pressure marketing and social media put on all of us is significant, and its even more potent for our kids. Body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and dangerous dieting habits have become epidemic due to this pressure. Recently, the Canadian Pediatric Society released a report titled, “the Dangers of Dieting in Adolescence.” The writers report that by the time they get to high school, about fifty percent of young people have tried to change their bodies through dieting, a trend that has increased over time. What the report calls for is what’s called a “health at every size” approach which is designed to help kids eat, exercise, and sleep in healthy ways. Adolescent dieting can have many unintended consequences. Teach your kids to find their identity in Jesus Christ, and not their appearance.