What's Worse: Putting a 7 year-old on a diet or writing about it?

Via Vogue

NYC mom Dara-Lynn Weiss had issues with her daughter Bea’s weight. She put the 7 year-old on a diet, then wrote about it for Vogue. The article included awkward mother-daughter photos, like the one you see above. Here's a snippet from the interview:

Sometimes Bea's after-school snack was a slice of pizza or a gyro from the snack vendor. Other days I forced her to choose a low fat vegetable soup or a single hard-boiled egg. Occasionally I'd give in to her pleas for a square of coffee cake, mainly because I wanted to eat half of it. When she was given access to cupcakes at a party, I alternated between saying, "Let's not eat that, it's not good for you"; "Okay, fine, go ahead, but just one"; "and "Bea, you have to stop eating crap like that, you're getting too heavy," depending on my mood. Then I'd secretly eat two when she wasn't looking.

As a rule, I think it’s not only okay, but commendable to teach your child healthy eating habits. I also think it’s important to take action if your kid is unhealthy. However, from what little I’ve read, I don’t think Dara-Lynn is doing this for the right reasons. The woman sounds like a fucking  nutjob to me. But I’m never going to read the whole article so that’s just my rash, judgmental side jumping to conclusions.

I can say that writing about it for Vogue is one of the most dumbass parenting moves ever. It’s right up there with people who blog embarrassing photos of their babies and forget that we’re living in an age where information lives forever. These aren’t just photo albums that you keep in your closet anymore, people. Gone are the days when all Bea had to do was make sure her mom didn’t show the one ratty, dog-eared copy of Vogue to her friends. Years from now, when Bea is in her awkward middle school years, or dealing with the mean girls in high school, a quick search will bring up that Vogue article and all the accompanying blog posts (like this one! Hello mean kids of the future!). It’s a virtual treasure chest of embarrassing material for people to exploit.

Bea’s mom has effectively made sure the girl will be defined by her weight all throughout her upcoming teenage years and probably into college. Maybe even at work if she has obnoxious co-workers. It doesn’t matter if she keeps the weight off or gains it back, because dumbass people will always want to know about the 7 year-old who went on a diet and was featured in Vogue alongside her bat-shit crazy mom. 

Remember, breeders: the internet is forever and if you ride your kid for 15 minutes of fame (or a bunch of Facebook likes), they will be the ones paying the price. Put them on a diet if you must just keep it to yourselves!

[Via NY Mag]