{"id":42508,"date":"2014-04-07T20:59:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T01:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=42508"},"modified":"2024-12-10T20:07:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T02:07:26","slug":"my-seven-year-old-who-is-tall-and-skinny-thinks-she-is-too-fat-what-do-i-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-seven-year-old-who-is-tall-and-skinny-thinks-she-is-too-fat-what-do-i-do\/","title":{"rendered":"My seven-year-old, who is tall and skinny, thinks she is too fat. What do I do?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Thank you for such a helpful website! I’ve read the article on\u00a0Five to Nine-Year-Olds<\/a>\u00a0this morning.<\/p>\n

I’m concerned about my seven-year-old girl who attends public school. She’s naturally a tall, thin girl but she asked me if I think she’s fat and lately has been obsessed about this — showing me her stomach and asking me if it will shrink. I’ve had short talks with her on how we shouldn’t worry about our physical appearance and how everyone is different: some are bigger than others and being big is not wrong. We should focus on how we act. I’m planning on a devotional to address this subject.<\/p>\n

Any words of wisdom you give on this subject would be greatly appreciated. I was thrown back at how young she is asking this type of question.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

It is a reflection of our society’s emphasis on the physical that makes people forget that the physical is transient. “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised<\/em>” (Proverbs 31:30).<\/p>\n

One aspect you should consider is where this source of concern is coming from. My guess is that there is a group of students at school who are taunting other children — as children have a tendency to do. They will find anything to make another student uncomfortable and if they can’t use reality, they will make something up. If this is an accurate guess, then the problem is teaching your daughter how to deal with verbal bullies.<\/p>\n

First, get the charts for childhood growth and mark where your daughter is. See Individual Growth Charts<\/a>. What you should see is that she is taller than average, but that her weight is in a lower percentile than her height. The BMI chart should show that she is not overweight. All of these provide factual evidence. It removes the opinion of other people. That is what should be emphasized: It doesn’t matter what people claim, especially children, here is what doctors say is right.<\/p>\n

Next, we want to establish that there are people who say mean things and will be willing to tell lies just to make another person sad.<\/p>\n