Praise, Don't Tease, And Other Tips To Help Kids With Their Weight
Even well-intended comments about weight and dieting can actually harm children. Here's advice for how to set kids up for a healthy life and a positive self-image.
Dale Knuth, now 58, says in childhood her weight was a source of anguish — largely because of how her family treated her. "I had a brother who tormented me constantly," she says. "If I came home from school and was hungry and ate an apple I'd be called a cow, or a pig, or whatever."
Her parents, she says, did nothing to stop her brother, "except to say, 'Yeah, you're getting fat.' " She had no physical outlet for her frustration — she wanted to play softball but her mother wouldn't allow it.
Decades later, Knuth is much happier. She has an active life, that includes riding bikes and playing racquetball. Her husband tells her he loves her at any size and always will.
