Every now and then a worrying slimming craze seems to sweep social media, whether it's posting pictures of your thigh gap or showing off surgery-plumped lips a la Kylie Jenner.
And this latest trend is no less worrying – especially considering the vulnerable stage in their lives our young girls are going through.
The latest of these trends is the ridiculous ‘A4 Waist Challenge’ where girls are posting selfies of themselves holding a sheet of A4 paper in front of their waists with the hashtags #A4waist and #A4waistchallenge.
The goal? To be smaller or at least the same size as the sheet. And considering the measurements is a teeny tiny 21cm or 8.27 inches, we think we’ve got a right to be a little worried.
‘Challenges’ like this can only be harmful. Girls’ bodies, as we know, come in all shapes and sizes, and only girls who are already predisposed genetically to be slight could ever have the same measurements as an A4 sheet of paper.
The worry here is that girls who are naturally bigger will eat less, with the goal to reach this ideal.
It’s important for us mums to stay in the loop, and to talk to our girls about these trends, reinforcing that at best they’re silly and illogical, and at worst, incredibly harmful, both to their self-worth AND their health.
