On October 16, 2011, a book entitled Maggie Goes on A Diet by Paul Kramer will be released into an already brewing sea of controversy. For those unaware, this is a book geared towards children that Amazon.com describes as being, “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.” Controversial? I personally don’t think so. Granted, I haven’t read the book yet, but neither have many of the people that have taken up pitchforks and torches against it. According to an article on the Los Angeles Times website (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/23/news/la-heb-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-book-20110823):
“The idea of this book makes me want to either cry or scream -- actually both,” wrote a commenter named Adrienne Ressler from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “It's bad enough that the messages and images in the culture have co-opted most women into loathing their bodies, but targeting the insecurities of young girls, vulnerable to the risk of developing an eating disorder, borders on promoting high risk behaviors and attitudes that are destructive both physically and psychologically. Please take this book off the market.”
Wait… WHAT? Fat girl exercises and eats right to play soccer and that’s apparently a high risk behavior and attitude???
Also in the same article:
"As the book opens, Maggie is called 'fatty' and 'chubby' by kids at school. So she decided to do something about it. She didn’t starve herself but switched to eating foods that were 'healthy and nutritious' and cut way back on junk food, allowing herself a single 'normal-sized treat' once a week. She also started exercising almost every day and later joined a soccer team.”
There’s nothing about that concept that screams, “OMG ANOREXIA!!!!” Heck, this page of the book is FAR more destructive physically and psychologically than any else I can imagine:
So… let me get this straight: healthy diet and exercise is bad… but double fisting a sandwich and a chunk of cheese in the middle of the night in front of your fridge is somehow okay for children to do? I think if I was doing that, there would be something seriously physically and psychologically wrong with me for me to think that stuffing my face with random fridge food is the answer. But no. People apparently want to be able to do that and anything less is telling children to develop an eating disorder. What is WRONG with you people?!? What. Is. YOUR. Deal?!? Is there no room for a happy medium between binge eating and anorexia? Why can’t people just eat healthy and exercise? Is that so hard for society to accept? And Maggie, the girl in the book, wants to play soccer. I’ve played soccer, albeit not well, but I’ve played and I’ve refereed the game, as well as have been a fan of the game for years. I’m sorry, I can’t imagine anorexia and elite soccer player being in the same universe. Because, Abby Wambach will crush you:
That is not the picture of anorexia...
Are we so afraid of the next generation disapproving of our gluttony? Are we so petrified that Southwest Airlines will deny us a seat on an airplane because it’s not the seat, but the SEATS that we need to park our gargantuan posteriors? Are we the generation that sues White Castle because we can’t fit into the booths? Yes, a man is suing White Castle because he can’t fit into the booth (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/11/martin-kessman_n_957663.html?ir=Weird%20News). What a dude that can’t fit into a booth wants with tiny little White Castle burgers is beyond me. There is an alternative other than being morbidly obese and assisted waddling down the path to embarrassing lawsuits and airport shame and it’s NOT JUST anorexia. Telling your child, “No, eating the entire left side of the menu is BAD,” and “No, you shouldn’t eat straight out of the fridge at midnight,” is not akin to forcing them into eating disorders. If we can’t fix ourselves, we shouldn’t sentence the next generation to the same fate. If your child wants to play a sport, let them do it. It’s far more fun than popping Cheetos and cheese wedges in front of a TV. There’s nothing wrong with this book. There’s nothing wrong with healthy eating. There is, however, something wrong with YOU if you can’t see that. The truth may be buried underneath the 7th level of fat rolls that you have.
