Pat, you said:

Baby's weight and progress in this area, according to Hrdy is something
that all parents have always honed in on, as a predictor of baby survival.
I know parents are definetely preoccupied with kids' weight.  No one (but
me) seems to worry about overfeeding kids, but let me tell you that all
parents focus on "too skinny", "doesn't eat enough", "small appetite",
"eats NOTHING" ad nauseam every day in the ped office!  (and culturally
some parents are worse about it.)

I haven't had the pleasure of Hrdy yet (not in pb in the UK).  I am
interested in the idea that *all* parents *always* honed in on this as it
may then make it pretty much a unique event!!

However, what you say is that parents are pre-occupied with weight, but your
examples are about observation of physical characteristics (skinniness) or
behaviour (eating patterns).  Weight is a way of attempting to quantify the
observation about physical shape and behaviour.  But one could argue that
skinniness could be better measured by other means (skin-fold thinckness,
for example) where there is any reason for concern, or where you want to
measure that aspect of growth.  Behaviour, well that's interesting.  Are
issues about behaviour assessable and addressable with weighing?  There is
certainly such a discourse around adult weighing:  dieters talk about 'being
good' and this is measured by weight loss or maintainence.

I actually think weighing has grown to be phenomenally misused and abused,
rather than it is in itself intrinsically useless.  However, the general
misunderstanding about what it can tell us probably makes it a double-edged
tool.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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