While the First Lady is passionate about talking to our nation about the importance of healthy eating and exercise one thing she doesn’t talk much about is weight, particularly with her daughters. During Monday’s “Fireside Hangout” on Google, First Lady Obama made herself available to answer questions from a few adults as well as a class of third graders. The purpose of the event was to promote childhood health, as she continues to be actively involved in her Let’s Move! Campaign.
During the hangout, after being prompted by a question, the First Lady shared her thoughts on how imperative it is to discuss “childhood fitness the right way.” It was during that time that she noted the difference between “health” and “looks” — something that is so often intertwined in our culture.
“The first thing that we want to make sure that we do is not make this an issue about looks. We should really talk to kids about how they feel, how they feel inside, so that we’re not just dealing with the physical manifestations of the challenge, but we’re really tapping into what’s going on inside that head of that child.”
“I never talked about weight in the household,” she said. “We just started making changes. And we made changes in a way that didn’t make [Malia and Sasha] feel badly about themselves; it didn’t even make them feel any ownership over it. Because truly, kids that age can’t control what they eat. So as the mom, I took it upon myself to make sure that we just surrounded them with foods that were healthy and that they could eat whenever they wanted. You just have to get the temptation out of the household wherever possible, and then just try to make activity fun.”
It was later noted, by the First Lady, that she didn’t want her children to be obsessed with their weight. For more on this, including a video visit The Huffington Post.
BMWK — Do you talk to your children about their weight?