To mommies of little girls...

Dear mommies of little girls,

I read an article yesterday about a 16 year old girl who went on a post-Christmas diet with her mom and, one year later, died of complications from anorexia.
I realize we cannot block the effect modern culture is going to have on our girls, but the fact of the matter is that we are in front of them every day and, whether we like it or not, they are learning how to be and how to feel about themselves from US!!! If you're like me, it must make you wonder what kind of behavior and attitudes you're modelling, even ones that you're unaware of.
How often do we complain about what we look like? How do we talk about ourselves? What eating habits are we teaching our girls? Do we diet? Do we show them that, to us, food is the enemy? Basically, what are our fundamental beliefs and attitudes about ourselves, our appearance, food, and exercise? How would you feel if your daughter felt that way? Would it break your heart? I believe that chances are good that the attitudes you have about yourself will transfer to your daughter, even if you believe you're doing a good job hiding it.
I am sure that all this is quite simplistic...but isn't it time that we take a look at ourselves so we can potentially save our daughters psychologically and physically?
If you'll do some reading and be honest with yourself, I believe that many of us will find that, even though we might not be in the clutches of a full blown eating disorder, we all possess fundamental disordered attitudes about food, it's place in our lives, and ourselves.
I sure don't have this figured out, but my heart is aching over this issue at the moment.
Did you know that 81 percent of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat???? Or that 46 percent of 9-11 year olds are sometimes or often on diets and that 82 percent of their families are also sometimes or very often on diets??? Plus, this information is from 2005, so I wonder how much worse it is now!
I guess it's just hit me really hard the last few days since Jordyn turned 7, since that news article came out, and since it's just been on my heart lately.
Ladies, think about what you're demonstrating for your daughter. Maybe it's time we stop idolizing Hollywood and comparing ourselves to what we think we should be rather than learning to praise God for what and who He made us to be. Perhaps it's time we stopped dieting and started eating healthy food...and learn what healthy food actually is!!! I also wonder if it's time we started turning the stupid TV OFF so that all the negative and destructive attitudes that stream in through it (and that we PAY for) will stop poisoning not only our thinking but our daughter's thinking (and sons, for that matter).
Trust me, I don't even have the most basic of these done in my own life. But I do think that it's time for us mommies to stop the nonsense!!

Thanks for reading.

Love, Sarah