In this blog I hope to track my adventures in fitness, food justice, gardening and body acceptance. I will do so with a critical eye--examining how anti-fat bias, economics, class, sexism, urban (suburban and rural) development deprives us of satisfying movement, and how health is collective and personal.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Breastfeeding for Weightloss?
So, here is an advertisement from NYC's Wic program and the department of health promoting breast feeding. Now, I'm generally in favor of breastfeeding, but I'm also in favor of encouraging women to do what's best for them (if you work in a factory you are less likely to be allowed to take lactation breaks than say an office worker...so you have to know what will ultimately allow you to feed your baby and support the roof over both of your heads). The thing about this ad is that, yes, breastfeeding burns about 500 calories per day and for new moms, sometimes this results in losing the added baby-weight. For others, it results in a ravenous appetite and added body-image anxiety. So, works for some is more appropriate, but making its main selling point weight-loss is questionable, especially coming from WIC. This add is very Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers/Jared of Subway cheesy--with the whole big pants held up, the twirling, etc. I don't get an ironic tone--this is genuinely their intended tone. So, what do you think readers? Will the ad encourage breatfeeding or does it just confuse the issue even more? Any breastfeeding stories you want to share? Let us know in the comments.
I am a strong proponent of breastfeeding but I find this ad obnoxious. "Hey gals! You might think it's yucky, but it's gonna get you back into your skinny jeans. Do it for yourself!! Oh yeah, and by the way, it's good for your baby. But really, that's not half as important as getting into those skinny jeans."
ReplyDeleteI breastfed both my kids. In both cases, it took me several months to get anywhere near fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I breastfed for the love and the health of my babies. Period.