Too Thin or Too Fat ...

With another model, Candice Swanepoel, hitting the headlines due to a massive weight loss, isn't it time that women started to ask just why some of us feel the need to put our health at risk to meet a standard that we know is unrealistic. Who do we do this for?

Recently in the UK there was a week of documentary programmes which concentrated on children who were both obese and too thin. They were challenged to lose weight or put on weight depending on their circumstances. The programmes did highlight a growing problem with children struggling with eating problems, but is TV the correct medium for this.

One thing that did strike me about the programmes that I saw was that in virtually all the cases the Mother had to take a huge proportion of the blame for their child's problems, in that it was far easier to give in and let child eat, or not eat, what they wanted. The Mothers far too often wanted to be their child's friend rather than taking responsibility as the parent.

So many of us have an unhealthy relationship with food, using it to medicate ourselves when we feel down, using it as rewards or even as a punishment by denying ourselves or others. With Easter just around the corner how many of us will be hitting the chocolate and then feeling guilty about it? Or, on the opposite side of the fence feeling really good about resisting it?

Chocolate, like everything, is good for us in moderation and isn't that what we should be starting to believe? Not a new message but a very apt one.

Dominique