Fat Talk: Coming of Age in Diet Culture
Fat Talk: Coming of Age in Diet Culture
Virginia Sole-Smith
Virginia Sole-Smith
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UWCSEA Community Reviews
UWCSEA Community Reviews
Reviewer
Reviewer
Fat Talk — what a book! It really made me question everything I thought I knew about body types, size, and health.
This is a must-read for anyone who has ever struggled with their own body image, worries about how their child might come to view bodies, or works with young children and adults.
While the book is quite American-centric, it still raised powerful questions about my own perceptions — how I see myself and others, and how I want to support my children in developing a healthy, compassionate view of bodies and body image. -vwr
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This book explores how societal pressures around weight and body image impact self-esteem, eating habits, and overall well-being. It challenges research, rethinks what is 'healthy' and invites individuals to change the conversation around food. A must-read for anyone who works with youth, this impactful and insightful book gives practical advice to foster a positive relationship with food.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Book Riot best book of 2023
A Science Friday best book of 2023
An Audible best well-being audiobook of 2023
By the time they reach kindergarten, most kids believe that “fat” is bad. By middle school, more than a quarter of them have gone on a diet. What are parents supposed to do?
Kids learn, as we’ve all learned, that thinness is a survival strategy in a world that equates body size and value. Parents worry if their kids care too much about being thin, but even more about the consequences if they aren’t. And multibillion-dollar industries thrive on this fear of fatness. We’ve fought the “war on obesity” for over forty years and Americans aren’t thinner or happier with their bodies. But it’s not our kids—or their weight—who need fixing.
In this illuminating narrative, journalist Virginia Sole-Smith exposes the daily onslaught of fatphobia and body shaming that kids face from school, sports, doctors, diet culture, and parents themselves—and offers strategies for how families can change the conversation around weight, health, and self-worth.
Fat Talk is a stirring, deeply researched, and groundbreaking book that will help parents learn to reckon with their own body biases, identify diet culture, and empower their kids to navigate this challenging landscape. Sole-Smith draws on her extensive reporting and interviews with dozens of parents and kids to offer a provocative new approach for thinking about food and bodies, and a way for us all to work toward a more weight-inclusive world.
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