Children's Book Encourages Dieting

I have been following the topic of body image in pop culture. In today’s world, many pre-teen and teenage girls constantly are pressured to be thin. Media outlets, such as the Internet, magazines, and television, bombard these girls with the idea that one has to be skinny to be perfect. While this problem has been prevalent in mostly teenagers, it will have reached even younger children with the release of a new children’s book called Maggie Goes On A Diet by Paul M. Kramer. The book, scheduled for an October 16 release, tells the story of a young girl’s struggle with being overweight. According to the website, Jezebel, the description of the book reads:

“This book is about a 14 year old girl who goes on a diet and is transformed from being extremely overweight and insecure to a normal sized girl who becomes the school soccer star. Through time, exercise and hard work, Maggie becomes more and more confident and develops a positive self image.”

Although Maggie is a teenager, the book is geared towards children between the ages of four to twelve. After seeing the cover of the book, showing an overweight girl looking into a mirror and holding up a pink dress that clearly will not fit her, I was somewhat disturbed. Even though the cartoonish illustration looks like it is meant for juvenile readers, what message will this image send to children who pick up this book at the bookstore, especially if that child is overweight?

I know that childhood obesity is a very serious topic that affects thousands of children everywhere. However, there are other ways to correct this issue besides encouraging them to follow a meticulous diet. Also, dieting is a rigorous process that requires a lot of commitment; young children should not be committing themselves to an eating regimen. Instead, they should be devoting their time to normal childhood activities. For example, by becoming involved in sports, they can use their energy to dedicate themselves to that sport while getting proper exercise as well. I think that parents also can help in motivating children to lead healthier lifestyles. By eating healthier and staying active themselves, their children will look to them as role models.

According to Jezebel, after receiving tons of criticism, Kramer defended his book in an interview on Good Morning America, "My intentions were just to write a story to entice and to have children feel better about themselves, discover a new way of eating, learn to do exercise, try to emulate Maggie and learn from Maggie's experience." Even though these reasons are good-natured, it does not make up for the fact that the book’s title is suggesting dieting in young children.

The realm of pop culture is already filled with publicity pressuring teenagers to be thinner. It is unnecessary to urge even younger children to lose weight as well. Therefore, children’s books, such as Maggie Goes On A Diet, will do more harm than good. While it may strive to teach children to have a more positive self body image, it does so in all the wrong ways.