A new study from Common Sense Media made headlines by reporting that 80% of 10-year-old girls have been on a diet. Furthermore, this “horrifying new research” found that more than half of girls and one-third of boys ages six to eight want thinner bodies.

Can you imagine? I was horrified when I read about it!

Many studies report a connection between parents’ attitude toward dieting and children’s behavior, and it will come to absolutely no one’s surprise that most kids (even as young as five) hold the same beliefs about food restriction as their mothers. Perhaps more surprising is that the media seems to hold an even greater influence than a child’s family. In nearly all studies regarding children and body image, test subjects list television, film, and video-game characters as the physical standards to which they aspire. It’s easy to see why. Another study, in 2000, surveyed top children’s movies, reporting that “72% associated thinness with
positive character traits such as kindness, and three out of four videos equated obesity with undesirable qualities.”

Well, I understand teaching kids to keep a healthy BMI for their own good, but I think this is going way too far. What do you think?