Like Mother, Like Daughter

Rating:
Summary: She's done it again
Review: After reading "Outsamrting the Female Fat Cell", I saw Debra Waterhouses' "Like Mother, Like Daughter". It makes sense that we, as daughters, have learned our eating behavior from our mothers. Waterhouse explains two types of Mom's- either they readily sacrificed their appetites to be like Twiggy, or they were raised in a household (or in Waterhouses' case, a different country) where food was scarce and children were taught to "clean your plate". This either teaches girls to overeat or not eat at all. Where's the balance?

"Like Mother, Like Daughter" helps us face our own attitudes toward food and body image, and then shows us how we as Mothers can break the vicious dieting cycle before we pass it on to yet another female generation. The statistics stated made me shudder:

*By age 5, most girls describe thin friends as being more desirable than overweight ones.
*By age 6, 40% have expressed a desire to be thinner
*By age 9, nearly 50% have already embarked on their first restrictive diet
*By age age 15, one out of eight girls are dieting at least 10 times a year
*By age 16, 45% are crash dieting, 40% are fasting, and 15% are taking diet pills

While the book is insightful, Mother's can't be the only ones responsible for the pressures to be thin that we exert on our young girls. Society, fashion mags, and Hollywood continually churn out one waifish actress after another- in effect, telling our girls that they aren't attractive if they aren't a size 4 or less. But at least, as Mother's, we can try to start giving our girls a head start on the road to self-acceptance. This book is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: She's done it again
Review: After reading "Outsamrting the Female Fat Cell", I saw Debra Waterhouses' "Like Mother, Like Daughter". It makes sense that we, as daughters, have learned our eating behavior from our mothers. Waterhouse explains two types of Mom's- either they readily sacrificed their appetites to be like Twiggy, or they were raised in a household (or in Waterhouses' case, a different country) where food was scarce and children were taught to "clean your plate". This either teaches girls to overeat or not eat at all. Where's the balance?

"Like Mother, Like Daughter" helps us face our own attitudes toward food and body image, and then shows us how we as Mothers can break the vicious dieting cycle before we pass it on to yet another female generation. The statistics stated made me shudder:

*By age 5, most girls describe thin friends as being more desirable than overweight ones.
*By age 6, 40% have expressed a desire to be thinner
*By age 9, nearly 50% have already embarked on their first restrictive diet
*By age age 15, one out of eight girls are dieting at least 10 times a year
*By age 16, 45% are crash dieting, 40% are fasting, and 15% are taking diet pills

While the book is insightful, Mother's can't be the only ones responsible for the pressures to be thin that we exert on our young girls. Society, fashion mags, and Hollywood continually churn out one waifish actress after another- in effect, telling our girls that they aren't attractive if they aren't a size 4 or less. But at least, as Mother's, we can try to start giving our girls a head start on the road to self-acceptance. This book is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking
Review: This book has eye-opening information, especially for women who are either chronic dieters or whose mothers were. My mother wasn't a dieter -- just a tremendously successful overeater. I found that this book has less information for overeaters than it does for people who continuously "diet". It is still a fabulous book, though -- I wish every mother in America would read it!

Rating:
Summary: A must read book for every parent who eats (everyone)
Review: This book is incredibly insightful. It describes how well-meaning dieting mothers can pass down weight and food problems to their daughters. More importantly it offers practical solutions on how to break the dieting cycle and prevent passing it on to your kids.