Book description
For readers of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Bringing Up Bebe, a
motherà  s unflinching memoir about helping her seven-year-old daughter
lose weight, and the challenges of modern parenting. When a doctor
pronounced Dara-Lynn Weissà  s daughter, Bea, obese at the age of
seven, the mother of two knew she had to take action. But how can a
woman with her own food and body issues à Â- not to mention poor eating
habits à Â- successfully parent a little girl around the issue of
obesity?In this much-anticipated, controversial memoir, Dara-Lynn Weiss
chronicles the struggle and journey to get Bea healthy. In describing
their process à Â- complete with frustrations, self-recriminations, dark
humour, and some surprising strategies à Â- Weiss reveals the hypocrisy
inherent in the debates over many cultural hot-button issues: from
processed snacks, organic foods, and school lunches to dieting, eating
disorders, parenting methods, discipline, and kidsà  self-esteem.
Compounding the challenge were eating environments à Â- from school to
restaurants to birthday parties à Â- that set Bea up to fail, and
unwelcome judgements from fellow parents. Childhood obesity, Weiss
discovered, is a crucible not just for the child but also for the
parents. She was criticised as readily for enabling Beaà  s condition
as she was for enforcing the discipline and, yes, the deprivation
necessary to address it. Never before had Weiss been made to feel so
wrong for trying to do the right thing. The damned if you do/damned if
you donà  t predicament came into sharp relief when Weiss raised some
of these issues in a Vogue article. Critics came out in full force, and
Weiss unwittingly found herself at the centre of an emotional and highly
charged debate on childhood obesity. A touching and relatable story of
loving a child enough to be unpopular, The Heavy will leave readers
applauding Weissà  s success, her bravery, and her unconditional love
for her daughter. Dara-Lynn Weiss is a part-time freelance writer and
producer of internet, print and television content. In March 2012, she
wrote about helping her daughter lose weight in US Vogue magazineà  s
'Up Front' column. She lives with her husband and two children in New
York City.
