--- title: Children's Book 'Maggie Goes on a Diet': Wrong Message? description: Poor Maggie. She's an overweight 14-year-old character in a children's book that's not even due to be released until October, and already she's stirring up... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7140656/will-fat-kids-become-popular-if-they-go-on-a-diet-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-makes-the-case/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-08-25T12:45:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T10:50:48.357Z article:section: Health og:title: Children's Book 'Maggie Goes on a Diet': Wrong Message? og:description: Poor Maggie. She's an overweight 14-year-old character in a children's book that's not even due to be released until October, and already she's stirring up... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7140656/will-fat-kids-become-popular-if-they-go-on-a-diet-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-makes-the-case/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e0cbfed1a842aab/698a944118689201866ce582/maggiegoesonadiet.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: maggiegoesonadiet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Children's Book 'Maggie Goes on a Diet': Wrong Message? twitter:description: Poor Maggie. She's an overweight 14-year-old character in a children's book that's not even due to be released until October, and already she's stirring up... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e0cbfed1a842aab/698a944118689201866ce582/maggiegoesonadiet.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # 'Maggie Goes on a Diet': A Kids' Book About Dieting? Not Without Controversy > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Aug 25, 2011 12:45 PM UTC  by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Aug 25, 2011 12:45 PM UTC Poor Maggie. She’s an overweight 14-year-old character in a children’s book that’s not even due to be released until October, and already she’s stirring up controversy.more Why? Because the book, aimed at 4-to-8-year-olds, is about dieting for kids. “Fat at Four? A Diet-Book Fail,” [decrees](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/08/fat-at-four-a-diet-book-fail-1.html) a _New Yorker_ headline. [Counters](http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-book-20110823,0,7922844.story) the Los Angeles _Times_: ” ‘Maggie Goes on a Diet’ the sensible way in children’s book.” According to the book’s summary: --- > “” --- Paul Kramer, author of the upcoming _Maggie Goes on a Diet_, is an ex-New Yorker who decamped 15 years ago to Hawaii, where his “true passion in life dawned,” according to Aloha Publishers, Kramer’s self-publishing outfit. “That passion was and is writing children’s books that deal with the issues that kids face today.” It’s hard to argue that childhood obesity isn’t one of those issues. One in three American kids is overweight or obese. About 2 million kids are extremely obese, with a body mass index at or above the 99th percentile. Last month, a Harvard doctor generated a flurry of outrage when he suggested in the _Journal of the American Medical Association_ that super-overweight kids facing life-threatening health complications should be [taken from their parents and placed in foster care](http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/13/should-parents-lose-custody-of-their-very-obese-kids/). That’s an extreme solution, of course. Kramer’s book is merely suggesting that plus-size Maggie go on a diet. So what’s the problem? The title sends the wrong message, emphasizing dieting instead of healthy eating, says Cynthia Bulik, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We don’t want kids to ‘go on diets,’ we don’t want kids to use diet language,” she says. “You have to think about how the messages will be interpreted by a child’s brain. They will not see any nuance — they will see a causal association between losing weight and becoming popular, pretty and athletic. It emphasizes valuing people for their size and appearance rather than for who they are.” (**MORE** **:** [Should Parents Lose Custody of Their Extremely Obese Kids?](http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/13/should-parents-lose-custody-of-their-very-obese-kids/)) Defending himself on Fox News, Kramer [backed himself into a nonsensical corner](http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/23/new-childrens-book-focused-on-dieting-sparks-controversy/). “I’m not advocating, never did, that any child should go on a diet,” he says. Huh? The plot — not to mention the title — speaks for itself. Stung after being labeled “fatty” and “chubby” by kids at school, Maggie decides to overhaul her eating habits, embrace nutritious foods and hit the exercise circuit, after which she becomes a soccer phenom. Here’s how it plays out, in dubious narrative rhyme: _Losing the weight was not only good for Maggie’s health._ _Maggie was so much happier and was also very proud of herself._ _More and more people were beginning to know Maggie by name._ _Playing soccer gave Maggie popularity and fame._ Fat girl gets skinny and handy with a soccer ball, and popularity follows? Carolyn Becker, a professor of psychology at Trinity University in San Antonio who developed Reflections Body Image Program, which decries “[fat talk](http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/31/girl-you-are-so-not-fat-does-fat-talk-make-anyone-feel-better/)” and promotes positive body image, says the book misses its mark. “They are trying to promote healthier behavior, but at the same time they’re likely promoting weight stigma,” says Becker. “For some people, getting healthier may or may not lead to significant weight loss. It’s also quite possible to lose weight on an unhealthy diet.” (**MORE:** [Do I Look Fat? Don’t Ask. A Campaign to Ban ‘Fat Talk’](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/18/its-fat-talk-free-week-and-you-could-win-1000/)) Though the L.A. _Times_ says the book’s plot “sounds like the kind of sensible advice recommended by experts,” it notes that [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Maggie-Goes-Diet-Paul-Kramer/dp/0981974554/ref=sr%5F1%5F4?ie=UTF8&qid=1314120618&sr=8-4) customers have been less than supportive. “The idea of this book makes me want to either cry or scream — actually both,” [wrote](http://www.amazon.com/Maggie-Goes-On-A-Diet/forum/FxPLSMT70BJ700/Tx1V60OXP437GQ9/1/ref=cm%5Fcd%5Fdp%5Fef%5Ftft%5Ftp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=0981974554&store=books) a commenter named Adrienne Ressler from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “It’s bad enough that the messages and images in the culture have co-opted most women into loathing their bodies, but targeting the insecurities of young girls, vulnerable to the risk of developing an eating disorder, borders on promoting high-risk behaviors and attitudes that are destructive both physically and psychologically. Please take this book off the market.” Kramer is not without his supporters, including Fox News contributing psychiatrist Keith Ablow, who [commends](http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/23/psychiatrist-promotes-controversial-diet-book-for-kids/) Maggie for “taking charge of her nutritional status, her weight and her life. I think she’s a fabulous role model — far better than the size 20 women who go on talk shows and lie about how happy they are with their bodies.” Kramer, meanwhile, has got to be kvelling. The media attention has undoubtedly raised his self-publisher’s profile and guaranteed that more than just his neighbors in Maui will purchase the book once it’s available. Alas, Bulik of the Eating Disorders Program won’t be among them. “I won’t be buying it,” she wrote in an e-mail. **MORE:** [Paradise Paradox: Why Life in Hawaii Is Linked to Early Death](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/22/think-living-in-hawaii-can-extend-your-life-think-again/) _Bonnie Rochman is a reporter at_ TIME_. Find her on Twitter at_[ _@brochman_](http://twitter.com/#!/Bonnie%20Rochman)_. You can also continue the discussion on_ TIME_‘s_[ _Facebook page_](http://www.facebook.com/time) _and on Twitter at_[ _@TIME_](http://twitter.com/#!/TIME)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7140656/will-fat-kids-become-popular-if-they-go-on-a-diet-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-makes-the-case/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7140656/will-fat-kids-become-popular-if-they-go-on-a-diet-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-makes-the-case/"},"headline":"'Maggie Goes on a Diet': A Kids' Book About Dieting? 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