My aim is to COMPLETELY ban slimming world for children. Believe it or not, if you are aged 11 or onwards you are allowed to join slimming world with a parent for free. 

No child should feel as if they have to diet to fit in, lose weight or lose their food freedom at such a young age. 

I myself joined slimming world when I was 10, now I am 18 and have been struggling with anorexia for almost 2 years, yet also with body dysmorphia for 8 years . Slimming world was such a huge contributing factor to me developing an eating disorder, without learning so many toxic dieting rules and developing an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise at such a young age, i May have never developed anorexia.

The minute I joined slimming world I learnt so many unhealthy, toxic ideas about food, which brought me disordered thoughts around food, guilt after eating ‘synfull’ foods and I was given the idea that weight loss should be celebrated (it shouldn’t) 

I also had to explain why I hadn’t lost weight that week, every week to a group of 20+ people, I will never forget the embarrassment till this day.

It explains on the slimming world website that there’s no pressure to lose weight and it simply teaches children how to live a ‘healthy lifestyle’ but from someone who has been through it… it’s far from healthy. Also a weight loss group saying that there’s no pressure to lose weight? That’s just not true or realistic. There was always a pressure to lose weight.

Teaching young, naive children that takeaways are bad, that they shouldn’t blend/ bake their fruit because it releases more sugar, that they should weigh their cereal and many more ‘rules’ is DETRIMENTAL to their mental health and disturbs any healthy normal thoughts around food.

It disgusts me that any child is still allowed to join. Especially in times like this when people are more body conscious and critical than ever. Slimming world has ruined my life, i want this to stop before any other child has to go through what I’m now going through. I’ll do whatever I can to help prevent another child learning such harmful diet culture-riddled rules at an age so young.