My Daughter Thinks She is Fat - and she is 4 !!

[ZoeElizabeth]

Help !
I'm growing increasingly worried about my daughter. She is only 4 and often talks about how fat she is. When gently asked, she says this isn't coming from school - noone else talks about fat and thin. And she isn't getting it from me - When we first noticed this, about a year ago, I immediately stopped any discussion of my post-baby belly, but she is still talking like it.
Should I ignore as it might be attention seeking, or should I contact a health professional? She also says me and her dad are fat (we aren't). I have taken up running to show a positive example, her dad cycles, we eat pretty healthily, even growing our own veggies. She doesn't stop eating but I'm worried it's a matter of time before she makes the connection. I al so anxious that she is genetically programmed for anorexia....
What do you think?

ZE

[Twiglett]

does she seem body conscious though ... would she still run around naked in the summer .. can you have lots of fun swimming etc

I wonder whether it is your adult interpretation that is giving her a great response to her saying fat / thin that she thinks oh I'll say that again that gets loads of attention .. maybe you should just ignore it and see what happens

not meaning to minimise it of course .. what do you think?

[Twiglett]

You could also do some descriptive work with her I suppose .... lots ofpictures

that boy is blonde, blue-eyed, white, tall

that girl is brown-eyed, curly-haired, black, short

see what she notices about pictures of people (real people .. not airbrushed models from magazines)

there's a game called guess who which might be a good starting point for descriptors

[FairyMum]

My DD started talking about fat people around the age of 5. She is quite thin so it was more about other people being fat. She started to use fat as a way of putting people down and said she hated fat people. I cannot understand where she picked this up other than from the other kids in nursery. She is not allowed to watch adult programmes on tv, I keep my mags with stick-thin Posh et al well out of her view and both me and DH are slim and not obsessed with weight issues in the slightest. I don't know what you can do. I was and I am worried still. She is now 7 and thinks its very important to be thin. She only wants to be friends with thin girls at school etc. So sad.