Weight Obsessed From Day 1

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

One of my good friends recently had a baby: an adorable, lively, happy baby. Her baby is only months old, and already, my friend has noticed a disturbing thread of conversation regarding her baby and weight. Weight is important for babies: we measure and track their growth, we talk about how well they’re eating, we discuss the importance of breastfeeding vs. formula feeding-a conversation that comes loaded with its own set of issues and Mom shaming.

But the discussion about weight when it comes to babies is clouded by our cultural obsession with weight. One family member said to my friend, “Oh she’s so fat but I guess she’ll thin out once she starts walking so it’s nothing to worry about.” This comment, coupled with the dozens of well-meaning people inquiring about how “good of an eater,” her baby is, made my friend realize something that I’ve never considered before: from the very beginning of your life, people comment on your weight, and not always in useful or constructive ways. Making sure a baby is well-fed is one thing. Worrying that a literal baby will one day be fat? That’s quite another.

As a young child, I saw and heard the adults in my life talk about weight in very negative ways. Whether they were commenting on their own bodies or on the bodies of others was beside the point. I just…