"I'm fat, and I just don't like the way I look!"
--Emma, 12

"I've always wanted to diet cause I'm really fat."
--Mike, 11

"I'm about 5'8" and I'm very tall for my age. I started to diet in school last year but stopped after I lost 3 lbs. I'm dieting now and I'm eating meat once a week. I am dieting because models are skinny and I'm not. I'm a size 13/14. I want to be skinny because guys like SKINNY girls and I'm not. Thanks for your time. Much love DIVA STAR."
--Daniella, 11

"I want to go on a diet because I'm concerned about my weight."
--Elle, 11

"Because I am too fat."
--Natalie, 11

"I wanted to lose weight so that I could have a flat stomach and be thin."
--Clarissa, 13

"Well, yes I have felt like dieting and I still do. It's just that my stomach is too big and my legs are just full of fat! I tell everyone I weigh 90 lbs. but I weigh 140 and I'm just in the 7th grade! I tried exercising, dieting pills, laxatives and starving myself but I don't lose weight. The only thing left to do is throw up after every meal. I just can't find any help!"
--Valerie, 12

"I am only 12 and I think I am overweight and heavy. I weigh 110 lbs. Should I go on a diet? Plz help."
--Karra, 12

"I wanted to diet because I thought that I was fat but I'm not. I only weigh 90 pounds and I wanted to diet because I didn't like my body. Now I don't care about my body because I know that I don't need to diet because I am skinny and that's all."
--Joanna, 13

"Sometimes it's like I'm hungry, but I just ate."
--Qiana, 10

"Yes, because I feel and look fat. I mean, I can have a good day and feel beautiful but all my esteem can go down the drain after listening to my mother and father yell at me or each other. So the reason I diet is because I want to control this and stress. :-/"
--Anna

"Yes, because I weigh 140 pounds and I am huge and I want to be skinny and look good for school and for myself. I look so nasty to myself."
--Beth

"I wanted to because I am 90 lbs., and all my friends are thin. I look in the mirror and see a large stomach!"
--Melanie, 11

"I wanted to go on a diet because I felt really bad about myself and how I looked. But my mom told me after I started that I'm special the way I am, and should be proud of myself for being me."
--Emily, 10

"Yes I have always wanted to diet. The reason is because a lot of girls in my school are really skinny. I wanted to be just like them. I wasn't necessarily fat, I just wasn't happy with the extra weight that I had. Anytime I'd say that I am fat to one of my friends, they all just say that if I think I weigh a lot only because I am tall. I am tall. I am 5'8" but just because I am 5'8" doesn't mean I should weigh as much as I weigh. The main reason that I want to diet is because I am sick and tired of going shopping with my friends and seeing them try on and buy small sizes when I have to buy a size 9 or 8."
--Esiena, 13

"Because I think I'm fat. When I look in the mirror I know I'm not fat, but it is all in my head and sometimes people make me feel like if I was the biggest girl in the world! I don't know how to deal with this depression anymore. Sometimes I just think I shouldn't exist!"
--Maggie

"I'm always thinking about weight and body image, always wondering whether I should eat this meal and skip the next and stuff like that. I'm not anorexic or bulimic, but I always feel like I can be a little bit thinner, and then I end up eating and it gets worse because I get depressed about the weight. I weigh like 110 lbs. and I'm not fat. I like the feeling of being hungry, like I'm losing weight. What should I do?"
--Jersey

"Since I was 9 I've always wanted to go on a diet. I always thought I was heavy but my friends said I wasn't. The problem was that all of my friends seemed so much thinner than me but I found out they weren't. My doctor said I was UNDER WEIGHT and that losing any more weight would ruin my growth spurt. So if you want to go on a diet do one thing: ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF IT'S NECESSARY. If you don't you can get a major problem."
--Thumbelina, 13

"I always wanted to diet because all my friends are skinny and can fit into tight clothes and I can't. Then I realized that I didn't care anymore about the way I looked toward everybody. If God wanted me to be skinny he would've made me skinny."
--Olivia

"Because I feel like I'm fat. My legs are big and I hate them, plus my stomach is big."
--Ash, 10

"Because I feel it's a healthy way to get your weight within normal limits."
--Kama

"Yes because I'm 10 years old and I'm 49 pounds overweight."
--Samantha, 10

"Yes I have wanted to diet in the 4th grade because I thought I was fat and I only weighed 80 pounds! Well, in my school we have to wear uniforms and from kindergarten to 4th we have to wear jumpers. From 5th-8th you get to wear skirts and my jumper was pretty big, so 'cause of that I thought I was fat. This whole thing was going around about being fat and I kinda fell into it. But later on I realized it's not what you look like, it's how you feel. Then I knew all along that I wasn't fat. I just let some stupid things get to my head! Never let something like rumors get to your head."
--Danielle, 12

"When I was little I was walking with some of my friends and my sister's friend said that my best friend was as skinny as a twig but didn't say any thing about me."
--Jordan, 11

"Because a lot of people call me names and it hurt my feelings and even my own family calls me fat."
--Valerie, 11

"Yes, because I was getting sort of chubby. Then I ate less junk food and more healthy food and I didn't lose much weight, but when I looked in the mirror I felt better about myself. I was the size of an average 12-year-old girl and I got comments! But, no I didn't exactly go on a diet. "
--Alexa, 12

"I have wanted to diet before really because I'm 142 pounds and only 12 years old."
--Walter, 12

"I want to diet, but my mom says, "Yyou're going make me cry because you're not fat.'"
--Laura, 10

"I have! I thought I looked fat! But everyone tells me I am really skinny. I came to find out I was way too skinny!"
--Amanda, 13

"No I do not want to diet because I am in good shape. Bye!!!!!!!"
--Diamond, 13

"Well, yes I did when I was like 9 until I was 10 but only because I'd look in books that had models who were half my size and I'd say, 'Jeez, should I look like that?' Then, I thought that it really isn't normal to be soooo skinny. The model was 31 so she has to do something in order to be so skinny. I just always think about that when I want to diet and tell myself I am who I am and they are who they are."
--Cymone, 12

"Hi! I may be young but when I was in the 5th grade I got fat and I was too busy eating to notice it. When my mom took me shopping I saw a girl walking down the street and she wasn't very thin. I looked at her and my mom said, 'You don't wanna look like her right?' and I said no. Then my mom said, 'That's my nice way of saying you need to start working out.' After that I got depressed and I felt like I should go on a diet but diets don't help. They sometimes make you think too much, then you really think that you're fat or just a little chubby. But what you see and what others see are 2 totally different things!"
--Felicia, 11

"I've always wanted to diet but I can't resist the goodies!!! I want to because almost everyone in my grade (girls) is skinny and I'm not. :("
--Danielle, 13

"Because I WAS (keyword) fat!!!"
--Ashley, 11

"Yes, I have wanted to diet. Before I tell you my story, you should know that I have played soccer since I was four, Irish step dancing, basketball, and swimming since I was three. So, with all that I have gotten weight from my muscles. My best friends weigh around 60, 70, and 80 pounds and I weigh 93 so I wanted to diet thinking that I could lose that weight and not be embarrassed when we got our weight checked. But now I realize that it can be good to weigh a lot, especially when you can look in the mirror and not see a fat person. One more thing: I weigh more than the fattest person in the fifth grade, who wishes to remain anonymous."
--Micala, 10

"We have never wanted to diet. We think it is unreasonable how many diet programs there are advertised on TV. It is not a good thing to be fat, but people should not be obsessed with keeping thin. If a person eats healthy foods and exercises, they have nothing to worry about."
--Tam & Amk, 11

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