Body Image in Young Girls

Girl refuses to Answer Offensive Word Problem About Weight

9 year old girl objects to math problem asking her to compare the weights of three girls and starts dialogue on school curriculum and body image.

In Utah, a nine year old girl sparked a debate when she refused to answer a math problem posed by her teacher. The question involved three hypothetical girls and their weights. On her homework, the girl circled the question, then stated that she wouldn’t answer it since she found it to be rude. The questions gave the weights of Isabel, Irene and Sue and asked the students to calculate how much heavier Isabel was than the lightest of the three.

The student in question, Rhythm Pacheco, found the question to be offensive since they had been taught that girls weren’t supposed to be comparing each other on their weight. Ms. Pacheco supported her daughter, saying that she was also shocked that math was being taught to girls in what she felt was an irresponsible manner. She added that the teacher had been very understanding about Rhythm’s failure to solve the question.

The school district received their math curriculum from a company called Eureka Math, who said that they have never received complaints before about any of their materials. In light of this, they have no intention of addressing or removing the question.

“There is no value judgement in the question about weight, it’s merely a comparison,” said company Director of Marketing Communications. “It sounds like the parent is putting the value judgement on it, not the question.”

The District Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning, also didn’t agree with the concerns saying “They’re trying to make questions relevant to a fourth-grader’s life and lifestyle and things that they encounter. So, 4th-grade student, 4th-grade problem.”

Other problems asked students to compare things like watermelon and dogs. But the question wasn’t comparing apples and oranges. It was comparing girls’ weights.

Some people have commented on the issue suggesting that the child is being too sensitive about the issue and criticizing the mother for reinforcing her. Yet it’s important to remember that even young children focus on body image, especially girls.

The curriculum company admitted that they focus materials on things that are relevant to the children’s lives. This means that they are aware that these students encounter and think about issues related to their weight. It’s unclear why they would refuse to change the question to simply compare objects instead of little girls.

Research suggests that even very young children have issues with regard to body image. Children as young as 4 or 5 may already believe that their ideal weight is thinner than their current size. (e,g, Damiano, Paxton, Wertheim, McLean, & Gregg, 2015).

Other studies indicate that as many as half of 9 year old girls express dissatisfaction with their bodies and many have already been on a diet (e,g, Knafo, 2016). Children also often have body image concerns as hormone levels begin to rise with the onset of puberty. The average age of puberty has been steadily declining over the past decade and the average age for girls is currently 10 years old, so many go through puberty earlier.University of Melbourne,. 2018.).

So while the adults who wrote the math question may not have intended for it to call up thoughts of body image in the children doing the assignment, it clearly triggered something in at least one of them.

There have been a lot of discussions, surveys, and research studies about what can trigger body image concerns in developing children. Parental modeling and direct feedback, the internet, peer influences and the media have all been focused on and we are becoming more aware of some of the things we can do to decrease body image problems.

It’s important to make sure that the school system isn’t let off because of the assumption that what happens in classrooms is safe and healthy for our children. If they are going to have discussions about weight and there is a policy in place to not discuss other children’s weights or compare them on this basis, then that makes the issue more salient in these children’s minds.

It also makes it more likely that a math problem like the one discussed here could have a triggering effect for some girls. We need to listen to the youth who are being affected and more carefully consider the curriculum when creating strategies to help children maintain a positive body image prior to the onset of puberty.

References

Damiano, S. R., Paxton, S. J., Wertheim, E. H., McLean, S. A., & Gregg, K. J. (2015). Dietary restraint of 5‐year‐old girls: Associations with internalization of the thin ideal and maternal, media, and peer influences. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(8), 1166–1169.]

Knafo, H. (2016). The Development of Body Image in School-Aged Girls: A Review of the Literature from Sociocultural, Social Learning Theory, Psychoanalytic, and Attachment Theory Perspectives. New School Psychology Bulletin, 13(2).

University of Melbourne. (2018, August 14). Eight and nine-year-olds experience poor body image as hormone levels rise. ScienceDaily.

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