Posted by Carrie Watson on Tuesday, August 20, 2013,
http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2013/08/19/toronto_schools_to_measure_students_weight_but_wont_send_fat_letters_home.html
Disturbing to read this morning that the Toronto District
School Board is allowing BMI testing in schools. The study being conducted by Toronto’s Public
Health Authority, plans to test 12,000 students between Grades 7-12. While Toronto has refrained from sending “fat
letters” home to parents as they do in the US, the impact of this study will
fall ...
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Monday, June 17, 2013,
I took my
kids to a new park this week in our neighbourhood. When we arrived, there
were about 15 other kids there with their childcare providers. They were
kind enough to share the sand toys with my kids, who played happily alongside
the larger group. The conversation among the childcare providers was
light and friendly, but then took a turn for the worse when one of them started
sharing about her new diet. It started with an 'innocent' "hey, I
lost 2 lbs this week", which was met with... Continue reading ...
Posted by Carrie Watson on Tuesday, May 14, 2013,
www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/link-to-eating-disorders-raises-concerns-about-school-health-programs/article11857923/
Here is a fascinating article in yesterday’s Globe & Mail called “Link to eating disorders raises concern about school health programs”, by Adriana Barton. To summarize, the article describes the “healthy living programs” in Ontario schools that teach students to analyze nutrition labels, track their daily intake of various foods and categorize fo...
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Thursday, April 18, 2013,
Check out this new Dove Ad that seems to be going viral. Usually advertising aims to convince us that we have a flaw or a deficiency that will be fixed if we buy the particular product. This ad is still advertising, but builds us up rather than tearing us down. How refreshing!
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Sunday, April 7, 2013,
Here is the link to a recent TED Talk by model Cameron Russell. She talks about her experience as a model having won a "genetic lottery" and benefitting from a "legacy of gender and racial oppression". Her insight into the power of image and its link to feeling insecure is refreshing. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model.html Continue reading ...
Posted by Carrie Watson on Monday, March 11, 2013,
I had an upsetting experience while at the local Shoppers Drug Mart last week. I went to Shoppers last Thursday with my two children. Hannah is almost 5 years old, and Isaac is 2.5 years old. We needed to purchase the plastic covers for our ear thermometer, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for being organized enough to do this before one of the kids caught the next cold. The problem began when we were waiting in line at the check-out.
For the first time in all our visits to Shop...
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Friday, February 22, 2013,
I came across this article on ABC News about a month ago. In a word, I felt encouraged. The article, available online here, http://abcnews.go.com/International/israeli-law-bans-skinny-bmi-challenged-models/story?id=18116291&goback=%2Egde_2176720_member_200848749, outlines recently passed legislation in Israel that requires models to meet a minimum Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5. In Canada, a healthy BMI is considered to be between 18.5 and 24.9, and is calculated using weight and height. The l...
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Friday, February 8, 2013,
Today marks the last day of Eating Disorder Awareness Week. It is a week to raise awareness about this important issue and to celebrate the diversity of body shapes and sizes. I am pleased to see that the Kingston Whig Standard has given some press to the issue in the article "Eating Disorders On The Rise" by Peter Hendra. You can view it in today's online edition at
http://www.thewhig.com/2013/02/07/eating-disorders-on-the-rise.
While this type of coverage is helpful to raise awareness and...
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Posted by Carrie Watson on Thursday, February 7, 2013,
Thank you for visiting my new blog. I will be writing regularly about eating disorders, body image, the media, and other relevant content. I hope it will be a thought provoking forum and that you find it useful. Feel free to
contact me with any questions or feedback.
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