My youngest sister, who's 14, is obsessed with being 'skinny'. She's a gymnast, is super fit and very athletic. She's skipping breakfast and sometimes other meals. She's been going on about losing the 'fat' which she apparently has on her stomach. She has a flat stomach, and a normal, healthy amount of fat which insulates her, yet today she declared herself to be 'practically obese'.
My mum and dad ignored this, haven't said anything to the contrary, and my dad's even been giving her tips on how to lose weight and which exercises will work out which bits of the body. I tried saying that she was being obsessive about this, and dad just said 'I don't think she is'. Well, that's that sorted then, conversation closed! If dad thinks it's fine then it's obviously healthy!
It makes me want to cry, it really does. Julia seems to be heading dangerously close to the anorexic mindset and no one in my family is doing anything to prevent this, or to tell her that no, she's not obese, she's actually skinny already.
My parents have always had an obsession about fat, having repeatedly told me and Julia that we're fat and need to lose weight, commented on how much we've eaten, etc etc. I was worried about their attitudes about fat when Julia was 12 and they kept telling her she was fat, and told them it'd lead to an eating disorder. Well done parents, thanks a lot for proving me right.
Why does no one understand how damaging this could be? I just want to cry!
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