Things that you should not say to a child about food/eating
i shouldn’t even be saying child; these are things you should never say to ANYONE.
1. you aren’t really hungry
people KNOW when they’re hungry ok. discounting and putting aside one of the most primal human NEEDS, and telling someone that their need is fake and doesn’t exist, is really hurtful– this can cause eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. i have a mom who always tells me that im not really feeling hunger and this has led to some really toxic mindsets; i’m always second-guessing myself, and sometimes i am really, really hungry (i.e, i have not eaten for over 24h) and i could still be feeling really fat and gluttonous if i tried to make myself eat something. it’s evolved into something like borderline anorexia and for the sake of everyone, please dont do this to ANYONE.
2. are you really gonna eat/drink that?
fuck yes, bitch. i am HUNGRY i have food in my hands what the fuck you expect me to do ? throw it at your face? cuz if you ask me that question this hot coffee is gonna end up on your sorry mug . in all seriousness though, asking this to someone creates the same mindset i described above. it teaches someone that their needs arent real and that their choices and decisions don’t have value, that they dont know themselves well enough. so dont be a bitch. let the people eat for fucks sake
3. gross
i hear this a lot with traditional food. like if someone brings a non-american dish to school and it smells/looks different then people will go “ew, gross!” or wrinkle their nose in disgust or something. like fuck you, different =/= gross. NO culture’s food is gross. even if a food doesnt conform to your own cultures standards of whats “good” and whats “gross,” don’t push these ideals onto others! no one asked for ur opinion…devaluing someones food often tells them subconsciously not that the particular food is bad but that eating is bad in general. and often these people dont have any other choice or dont know how to prepare any other dishes, other than their traditional food. so you’re really a dick if you shame someone’s diet.
4. you only like junk food/do you not know how to eat healthy?
um…leave me and my chips alone…what the fuck did we ever do to u….like seriously people might not make the most healthy decisions *BUT* its not your place to interfere with their lives. you are not their doctor, you are not their dietician, and you DO NOT know how they eat on a daily basis. so fuck off.
5. you’ll get fat/she’s a lot skinnier than you are/he can eat more because he ______/do you want to be fat?
ahhhhh the fat shaming. ahhhhh. and the comparison. it really pisses me off when people do this, especially parents. i mean my mom would do this all the time with me and my sister. we’d often be eating dinner and my sister would be able to help herself to more servings of food “because she’s skinnier than you, and because she has a higher metabolism,” while i would often be GENUINELY HUNGRY and my parents would refuse to give me extra food “because you’re chubby.” the same went with my brother, they allowed him to eat more SIMPLY BECAUSE “he is a boy.” ….people DO have different dietary needs and i recognize that but are they so drastically different that she has to eat 1 oreo while her siblings help themselves to 3? this kind of justification, that someone is able to eat something because of an arbitrary reason, while another person cannot, is hurtful and toxic and causes people to be really very sad. and DEFINITELY do NOT impose gender stereotypes & roles on your kids…telling Susie that she has to stay thin, while simply saying “boys will be boys” as Jimmy stuffs his face full of ice cream is UNACCEPTABLE. i remember i used to cry a lot because my parents would let my siblings eat all they wanted while i had to stop “because you’re fat.” and sometimes i’d also cry because i would tell MYSELF that i couldn’t eat because i was fat. so DON’T DO THIS. don’t poison people like this.