Zeno's Bar & Grill

Research finally confirms what we’ve long suspected: Moms who diet may provide a negative role model for their kids. According to an article making the rounds in yesterday’s papers, a study from Harvard Medical School shows that frequent dieting by mothers was associated with frequent dieting by their daughters, along with the accompanying negative body image anxiety.

Another study found that even 5-year-old girls were aware of dieting and weight loss strategies if their mothers were dieters. Doesn’t that seem kind of sad?

On the other hand, there is an abundance of articles about overweight children, and even infants, exhorting parents to instill healthy eating habits. This might seem inconsistent with the anti-dieting message, but there’s a big difference between healthy eating habits and constantly obsessing about losing five pounds or being filled with self hatred about your thunder thighs.

So, parents, walk that perilous middle ground. Otherwise it might just come back to bite you when your kids are teenagers…or kindergartners.

--Melanie & Kelly