Weight Gain and the Recalcitrant Teenager: Encouraged Rather Than Forced - Discuss

Hi folks Back on the 15th of March I posted up a piece I called 'Happy Birthday Polly' (click to read or scroll down the page) which in one way or another lead to a minor discussion (see the appended comments) as to how one might deal with the overweight teenager or - on the other hand - the over-vain self-conscious opinionated stick insect forever preening in the mirror and full of overblown aspirations and ambitions. In connection with the latter 'Orage' wrote "How to deal with the perfectly slim young thing...": quite simple since you've already dealt with that in 'Institutionalised 2': by giving her a girlish uniform, a fattening diet and having her hair messily trimmed." well to be honest this was an aspect that I only touched upon in that volume - and of course as I suggested there, under the right circumstances, and particularly within an institutional setting, it would be quite possible to manipulate the calorific content of the girl's meals to match one's aim without her being unduly alerted (other than for the effects of course, but they would take time to develop and might be camouflaged to some degree).

In fact manipulating the nutritional content of meals and keeping all else the same, the appearance, the consistency etc, is quite common in the annals of dietetic research literature. This is all well and good up to a point but eventually the fact remains that the young lady concerned would likely spot the changes being wrought and tend to try to counteract them - perhaps even subconsciously, resulting in reduced appetite. She might choose to eat more or less as appropriate and there is a limit it to how far one can increase or decrease the calorific content of a meal without it becoming something very strange indeed and the intervention being laid bare.

Obviously in an institutional setting wherein the girl's freedom has been curtailed and strict discipline is the order of the day, the overweight girl can be dealt with simply by withholding food and restricting portion size. Her hunger then also becomes a lever that can be used to further reinforced the institution's control over her through the coupling of behavioural modification techniques with food treats (but only within limits commensurate with the institution's aim). It is true, too, that under such circumstances disciplinary techniques can be invoked to bring about the changes required in the exercise and diet obsessed girl thought overly concerned about her figure, for example by insistence that she clear her plate under threat of the cane or the strap. But all this breeds resentment and that is something one might wish to avoid if in the domestic environment of perhaps even within some forms of institution under certain circumstances.

What if our young lady could be manipulated psychologically in some way to change her behaviour? Perhaps subtly, being encouraged step-by-step along the way with a loving arm around her shoulders so to speak. Food treats used as a form of reinforcement in behaviour modification might under the right circumstances and with the right encouragement become a source of comfort, perhaps to such a degree that the obsessively dieting would be catwalk model or dancer in effect becomes a compulsive eater. Driven by a subconscious compulsion that she can't possibly comprehend a point might be reached when, despite her burgeoning figure that stares back at her from the mirror, she no longer sees the point in all those punishing exercise routines she used to put herself through - and yet the choice to give up would almost seem as if her own. In that way I imagine her gradually slipping further and further under her carer's power. Mind you, one would want to control all those excess pounds and a girdle would seem the way forward (see top of page) - fine and ideal under a nylon work dress (see right) and apron if set to work scrubbing the floor, but I wonder what would work under a school uniform. And one would definitely want to 'apply the brakes' once she'd reach one's ideal, but that in itself opens up yet more avenues for discipline.

Anyway my mind was brought back to this way of thinking having been working on a certain sections of the new book but also having come across, fairly recently, this lovely little illustration (above left) by the most talented Lynn Paula Russell (Paula Meadows as was). True it doesn't exactly tell such a tale but then again there seems little on the 'Web' that deals with either of the above approaches, other than a few short tales of 'fat camps' and husbands punishing their wives over the lack of weight loss. A quick search with the relevent search terms mostly brought up my own blog!