I heard a child say something very sad today

someone had to have told the child this children would not come up with such if he hadnt first heard it !

That is so sad. Children can say horrible things to each other - maybe some kids at school have been picking on him, or maybe another relative (my grandpa used to call me fat).

parents have to reduce that feeling gradually, by councelling, that he is not fat

That is really sad. I'm so sorry to hear that a five year old could be upset about something like that. As someone who has struggled with her weight all of her life, I can honestly say that at five years old I don't remember having any real consciousness of my body weight. It's just so sad that we live in a society where we are so obsessed by being thin that even very young children are being affected by it. It really hurts my heart to think about it.

This world has gong insane!! My daughter at 8 weighte maybe 50 lbs. She was told by her "boyfriend" that she was fat!! I couldn't beleive it, I got so upset, because she is no where close to fat, if anything she is too skinny. I thought it was getting bad years ago, but this modle behavior is getting worse. I fear for my girls you hear more and more about girls growing up with eating disoraders.

Tha is so heartbreaking. My youngest has a very different body shape than his older brother and he often thinks and says the same thing. He is like the little boy you describe, chubby in the face and has a small tummy, but he is by no means fat. He is hearing it from someone at school, and then it is reinforced by the media, I suppose and he feels badly. I try to remind him how physically stong he is cmpared to all of his peers, and an awful lot of that stocky build of his is all muscle, but he doesn't believe it, not really.

My daughter is in Pre-K and she has come home almost everyday telling me that another girl in her class has told her that she isn't a princess and that she is fat. My daughter is only 4. It starts young. I told my daughter not to worry about what anyone says because she isn't fat and that she is indeed my little princess. They are 4 and 5 year olds and kids will be kids. I met the little girl that was calling my daughter names, and her parents pile makeup on her, so I think she thinks you have to dress nice and fancy and look perfect to be perfect. The kids that do the name calling probably were never taught that it's not nice to call someone fat. It is sad. My daughter doesn't cry over it though, but she does ask me off and on if she is fat and I just tell her she is perfect in my eyes and once again not to worry what others say. My daughter is 4 years old and very active. She isn't fat, but she is indeed on the chubby side, but she will thin out as she grows and even if not, it still doesn't give anyone the right to name call. But it really isn't the childrens fault. It's the things they see and hear.

He must have heard that somewhere else!! maybe he heard it on tv, or at home, or his baby sitter, or something! I couldnt imagine a 5 year old boy worrying about his weight! that is crazy.

That is sad. My youngest is 7 and he has said for while things like that. I remember going through a stage where he refused to wear his winter coat because "it made him look fat" I wondered where he was getting it from. He was so skinny then, like a little bean pole. Now he has become slightly chubby. Not fat at all, just chubby cheeks. If you say anything at all about his cheeks, he freaks out. It's the "expletive" kids at school. They go around calling each other fat, ugly, gay ( yes gay) When I hear some of these things I can't even imagine where they are getting it from except maybe TV. My eldest is brainy and everyone calls him a "know it all nerd" or worse!! It is really sad when you are having to battle self esteem issues with kids 10 & under.

My daughter has said things like this as well. I had her at the doctor earlier this week for a check up. After they did her height and weight my daughter looked at me and said " Mommy I am getting fat I gained two pounds!" I tried to explain to her that she isn't fat at all that yes her weight went up a couple of pounds but she also has grown a few inches as well. It is upseting when you hear a child say these words. As a parent you wonder where the learned something like that. I have never even brought my daughters weight up to her. She is small actually.

Thats is very sad, especially since the kid was mistaken. Five years old is too young to even be worrying about that kind of thing. I think that the whole "obesity crisis" puts extra pressure on people to try and be skinny, even if they already are. I dont know what you could actually do about it though, maybe convince them that they are keeping fit when the play outside, or something like that.

ouwww very sadd yaaaaa

Well, maybe he heard it from somebody that he's fat. Or maybe he bullied that he's fat. This is most reason why a child pitied themselves.

While obesity in children is a problem these days, lowering self-esteem is twenty times worse than nutritional problems. The problem is not the so-called "permissive" society, but of the spiteful, scornful society in which we live. People cannot change without a willingness to change, and willingness ONLY comes from happiness. This is a deep problem that is all of society's problem, and yet it's so easy to ignore when people are so willing to hate others while constantly seeing themselves as wonderful people. We should not tolerate scornful criticism that ONLY leads to the destruction of a person's self-image. A remark like "You're fat" has the amazing potential to create a kind of self-destruct mechanism in children which carry through their adulthood. Unfortunately, human society thinks this is a big joke, and it doesn't look like much progress is being made anytime soon.

Aww, i know how he feels! i have belived i am fat since i was about 4 years old. It all stems from other kids and what they say to you...and it is even worse now than when i was that age. Poor child.

Poor kid. From what you say about him crying about it, and the moms reaction, it sounds almost as though he's being bullied at school or something. For him to obviously be so upset means someone, somewhere is telling him he's fat, and being mean about it. He obviously isn't just repeating something that he's heard other people say in passing. Bullying is a huge problem in schools still, and as much as schools say they're dealing with it, most of the time they're not even aware of the problem. I only hope this child's mother can get to the bottom of this before it becomes a huge problem.

That is very sad, a child shouldn't feel that type of pressure. Our children need to know that we love them for who they are, not what they look like size wise anyway. I'm afraid too much emphasis is placed on this on children. They need to eat healthy but that shouldn't make them feel that they are fat.

That is horrible! I know there are a lot of things on the news, commercials, talk shows, that say that children now days are becoming obese. My son is pretty chubby, he is 12 years old, he does eat quite a bit and excercises all the time. He is always active, riding a bike, walking, playing football, baseball, and running. I think that a lot of people say something to him about being so big, because he has asked me if we could start walking in the evening to lose weight. I watch what he eats and I was big when I was young. I am sorry that children these days feel that they are fat, I think that society isn't as nice on kids as it should be. They sometimes just have to outgrow their baby fat, and they all have growth spurts, so it usually in the end evens out.

Our society today is so concerned about skinny people. In fact they shove the fact that if you are not a perfect size then you are fat and you should be ashamed of yourself. In reality, God made all of us unique. What if every one was the same, this would be a really boring world. I too share that heartbreak. My beautiful twelve year old thinks that she is fat and it makes her feel so ugly. I told her that she is perfect and beautiful and that I am here for her and that she shouldn't worry about her weight. What is really hard for her is her little sister is stick thin and she can't understand why she can't be like that. I think that we need to change how society defines thin and fat. I think if we don't change soon, we will have a lot of children with eating disorders.

That is very sad. I hope it isn't something kids at school are sayiing to him. There is way to much pressure put on how we look. I don't even think I knew what fat was when I was that young.