Mom Chronicles 7-Year-Old Daughter’s “Obesity” Battle in Vogue

Photo of Dara Lynn Weiss and Daughter Bea
Let’s talk about fat, shall we?  In fact, let’s just throw caution to the wind and talk about the potential damage parents can do to their children in the name of curtailing the national trend toward childhood obesity.

Or we could just talk about what a crazy bitch Dara-Lynn Weiss, who recently wrote a piece for Vogue focused on the alleged need for her 7-year-old daughter’s need to lose weight, is.

Incidentally, her daughter Bea was 4’4” and weighed 93 pounds.  She is now sixteen pounds lighter.

And, in case I haven’t already mentioned it, seven.

According to Weiss, Bea’s diet was recommended by her pediatrician, who felt that “she was clinically obese and could be at risk for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes.”

Just for shits and giggles, I put Bea’s stats into the BMI calculator at the National Heart Lung Institute.  It came out as normal. While, to be completely fair, the CDC has a pediatric BMI calculator that does classify Bea as “overweight” considering her age, I think there’s more than meets the eye here.

To wit, here’s what Weiss had to say about Bea’s dietary habits … and her own actions undertaken as…

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Another *Yawn* Makeover Story

Before and After Photos of Jael Gardiner

Am I the only one out there that feels absolutely nothing for the many “miracle makeover” stories?  I remembered that one of my mother’s monthly magazine subscriptions of the Family Circle/Good Housekeeping vein featured a “makeover of the month,” and even as a fifth or sixth grader (yes, I read everything) thinking to myself, “That’s all well and good, but what’s she gonna look like in six months?”  Between that and The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, I was pretty cynical about makeovers from a very young age.

Michigan’s Jael Gardiner story was recently spotlighted on Stylelist’s “Makeover Diaries” feature, and I found myself shaking my head and, yeah, rolling my eyes … and I truly mean no offense to Ms. Gardiner, who is currently a college student and rightfully proud of her accomplishments (including a 60+ pound weight …

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Japanese Surname Law Faces Legal Challenge

photo of japanese surname characters pictures

Five people in Japan are reportedly preparing an unprecedented legal challenge against the Japanese government. Why? They claim that a civil law forcing them to choose a single surname after marriage violates their constitutional rights. If they succeed, married men and women in Japan will for the first time be able to retain their own surnames, removing one of Japan’s few remaining legal obstacles to gender equality.

In the vast majority of cases in Japan, women are required to relinquish their maiden name after marriage, although a small number of men take their wife’s maiden name as their new surname. Critics, however, say the time has come to modernise the law surrounding marital surnames in Japan – the only G8 nation with laws governing such matters.

The five challengers of the law argue that the law’s requirement that a single surname be chosen contradicts articles of Japan’s constitution guaranteeing individual liberty and equal rights to husband and wife. The five are also seeking 1m Japanese Yen each in compensation …

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Help in Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions?

Photo of Woman Using Tape Measure on Her Waist

If you are anything at all like me, you consistently give the New Year’s resolution thing the old college try … it usually involves weight … and it usually lasts just about as long as it takes Domino’s to deliver a pizza.

Yeah, I’ve done it again and, as I have for the past fifteen or twenty years, am adamant that I’m going to stick with it this time. Har har har. I guess you could say that I’m either a sucker for punishment or optimistic.

Anyway, Beliefnet has suggested five ways to stick with your resolution, whatever it may be, which I share on the chance that it will be helpful to you. In terms of myself, I have my doubts, but hope springs eternal, I suppose.

1. Bribe yourself.
Let’s face it. Bribing is one of the most effective tools to get anyone–your kid, your stubborn mother, your golden retriever, or …

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