As a girl, I know in my household the issue of food and weight was not something that was made a big deal. My mom never made me finish my plate as a child or forced me to eat when I was not hungry. She would carry about healthy snacks like orange slices, apple slices or a small bag of gold fish for when I did decide I was hungry. She often let me pick what I wanted to eat if she got to pick the sides. For example, if I wanted to eat spaghetti for my main meal, she would pick out green beans and a salad for the sides. She did not keep a scale in the house or forced me to do an extracurricular activity as a form of exercise. If I wanted to play a sport, I got to pick which one or if I did not want to play, I did not have to. I think that a family has an impact on the way a woman feels about herself and food. If a girl has a relative that is constantly talking about her appearances and materialistic things, she is going to compartmentalize that she needs to do whatever she can to keep a tip top appearance. Her appearance can include the clothes that she wears, how her hair and make up looks or how skinny she is. If she has a parent that is very set on how her body should look, then she will continue to strive for the high ideals of what she should look like based on how her parents think she should look. I hope that when I have a daughter I do what my mom did and not focus on how much she should weight, how to restrict her diet or whether she is skinny enough. As long as she is healthy, then I will love her unconditionally, just as a parent should.
