Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

The My Overweight Child blog will help you keep informed about the latest research, findings, and resources available to parents of overweight or obese kids. There are many knowledgeable people working on the increasingly dire problem of childhood obesity - and we want to give parents a place where they can check in regularly to see the latest studies and tips available to help you help your child lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

We invite you to add your comments - if you have feedback for the blog, would like some specific topics covered, or you just want to share your experience as a parent dealing with childhood obesity.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

'Fat Acceptance' Novels Proving Popular Among Teen Readers

About two dozen new books aimed at teenagers feature characters that are overweight. Many of these stories do not end with the characters losing weight, but rather they find success and acceptance just the way they are.

The following are three examples of this emerging sub-genre:
  • In All about Vee, a young woman who weighs over 200 pounds goes to Hollywood to become an actress, competing with starlets who wear size zero.
  • In Food, Girls and Other Things I Can't Have, a 300-pound high school sophomore gives up his dream of becoming an athlete.
  • In Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies, a plus-sized eighth grader enters a beauty contest.
Erin Dionne, the author of Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies says that she receives five or six letters a week from readers who identify with her character.

Average-looking kids who don't have a weight problem can hide their issues behind a façade that is normal, Dionne said in an Aug. 30 Salisbury Post article. However, an overweight heroine is already dealing with other people's perception of her, whether that is the focus of the book or not.

Labels: overweight, books, acceptance

Posted By: Aspen/CRC