Having the talk… #Dietainment

From photoshopped celebrities to perfect Instagram photos to ridiculous trends (thigh gap anyone?), we are being inundated with unreachable goals in terms of body image. Tweens and teens are at high risk for eating disorders.

Multi-Grain Cheerios recognized this and decided to launch a campaign to drive attention and awareness around these unhealthy body images reaching kids across Canada. So far more than 16,000 Canadians have showed their support by signing our online petition to expose Dietainment. As part of the commitment to stop Dietainment and educate Canadians, Multi-Grain Cheerios has resources online to enable parents to continue the fight against this harmful content.

To help me get this important message across to my daughter, I took her to www.worldwithoutdieting.ca to see samples of Dietainment content and videos of children speaking about the impact it has had on them. My daughter is very thin and doesn’t think about dieting right now, but I know she sees the messages out there and it could be a problem down the road. Keeping the conversation going is important for all children no matter what their gender or body type is.

Our message needs to be not just about dieting, but about accepting yourself for who you are and not trying to live up to anyone else’s standards. Our focus needs to be on health instead of appearance, and on loving each other for our differences. This is the message that I hope my children get. It is the conversation I will continue to have with them.