Two years ago, I was at my weekly Weight Watchers (WW) meeting when something happened that disturbed me so much that I left and never came back. One of the participants?chatty, enthusiastic and full of weight-loss ideas?was a child.
What was so deeply upsetting about seeing a kid offering suggestions about cravings is that I used to be her. Long before the company decided to market a food-tracking app to children, I became a Lifetime Weight Watchers member at age 10 and was the only child at most of my meetings.
At an age when I should have been playing outside or hanging with friends, I watched adults berate themselves at weekly meetings for gaining a quarter of a pound. I don?t recall leaders?who, by the way, are merely other successful dieters, not dietitians or medical experts?ever discussing disordered eating patterns or genetics. It was all geared toward self-control. It was like being dipped in a vat of shame each week, and it?s where I internalized the concept that what you eat determines your self-worth. I was put on the program by my parents, who had the absolute best intentions, but with the wisdom of adulthood I can now say that it did more harm than good. Considering the fact that I was a prepubescent minor, WW shouldn?t have allowed me to participate in the program at all, but it did?money and vegetables are both green, and the diet industry in America is worth an unprecedented $72 billion. I place blame not on my loving family, but, rather, on corporate gree...