An Australian doctor has penned a scathing open letter to Kim Kardashian for promoting a ‘dangerous’ message after the reality star complained about her recent weight gain.
The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star revealed on her Instagram Stories on Saturday she had ‘fallen off’ the wagon and gained 8kg (18lbs) but was desperate to return to her ‘goal weight’ by her 40th birthday on October 21.
Dr Preeya Alexander, from Melbourne, slammed the US celebrity for setting a ‘dangerous tone for vulnerable people when it comes to body image’.
The GP took to Instagram to call out the 39-year-old’s constant obsession with ‘weight loss, restrictive diets and risky tea concoctions’.
Before and after: Kim Kardashian recently revealed she ‘fell off’ the wagon and has gained eight kilos (18 pounds) in the past year (left: sporting a pink mini dress on August 21, 2018; right: 14 months later she’s seen in a black dress for her KKW Beauty launch on October 24)
Dr Preeya Alexander (pictured), from Melbourne, is known as the Wholesome Doctor online
Dr Alexander, who is 28 weeks pregnant, said she was driving with her young family including her three-year-old daughter when she heard the celebrity’s plan to slim down, making her fume.
‘Dear Kim Kardashian, I note you’ve recently come out stating you’d like to hit a certain goal weight and lose weight before your 40th birthday because you claim you’ve “fallen off the wagon”,’ she said in a post on Tuesday.
‘I went rigid, my husband cringed. I started making loud noises about how much I loved my body and how strong I was (despite how bloody sore it is right now),’ she said.
You look fine, great, amazing and you talk heavily about weight loss, restrictive diets and risky tea concoctions.
The GP, otherwise known as The Wholesome Doctor online, said she’s concerned about Kim encouraging unhealthy practices among young people.
‘I worry because you look fine, great, amazing and you talk heavily about weight loss, restrictive diets and risky tea concoctions which can set a very dangerous tone for vulnerable people when it comes to body image,’ she said.
‘Women look at you and think you look great and if you talk about weight loss like this it can start to skew what other women think their bodies should look like – “if she isn’t good enough, maybe I’m not either” – is the question the brain asks.’
The GP (left) said she’s concerned about the reality star encouraging unhealthy practices among people (right: Kim shared a picture of herself on Instagram wearing a black two-piece from her SKIMS Bonded collection on October 31)
According to a survey conducted by the Butterfly Foundation, one in four people have ‘serious body image concerns’.
Dr Alexander pointed out the report found an alarming 38 per cent of girls as young as four being ‘dissatisfied with their bodies’.
‘Four year olds, yes you read it correctly,’ she said.
Not only does she feel concerned for her toddler daughter, but Dr Alexander said she has met many female patients of all ages who struggle with body image issues.
I worry because I don’t want my little girl to ever think she needs to lose weight to be good enough and I don’t want her to think that weight loss is a necessity and requirement to feeling and looking good
‘I see women – adolescents, older women – all the time with concerns around their body, their weight, their appearance,’ she said.
‘I see women struggling with binging and/or purging. I see women restricting calories significantly to the point of losing their periods. I see women unhappy day after day with their bodies – they compensate every calorie in with exercise.
‘So you see I worry because I don’t want my little girl to ever think she needs to lose weight to be good enough and I don’t want her to think that weight loss is a necessity and requirement to feeling and looking good.
‘Weight alone doesn’t determine health. I want her to know that eating rainbows, being active, remaining kind, caring and patient is the good stuff. I desperately want her to know her worth isn’t based on weight and appearance.’
Pre-baby: Her goal was to get back to the body she had in 2010, before she’d given birth to her first child – daughter North (Kim pictured at the E! 20th anniversary party in May 2010)
Dr Alexander pleaded with Kim to ‘please think of young girls and women when you make these statements’.
‘You look awesome, you don’t need to lose weight – so let’s stop sending the wrong message,’ she said.
Her open letter comes just days after Kim shared a video via Instagram Stories of herself working out at the gym with her trainer Melissa Alcantara.
Kim, you look awesome, you don’t need to lose weight – so let’s stop sending the wrong message
In the post, she told her fans: ‘Ok, so we’re doing a night workout before my dinner, which I never do, with this one, but I figured we have to get into it at some point.
‘And yeah, I mean, sometimes you fall off and sometimes you really gotta get it together and this is one of my fallen off times where I am, I think, 18 pounds up from what I was about a year ago, a year and a half ago.’
She then told her 151 million followers she’s working towards her ‘goal weight’, which she hopes to reach before her 40th birthday.
‘To feel good, I just want to get it like, a really good goal weight and so that means working out at all costs… But Melissa and I have a major goal for by the time I’m 40,’ Kim said.
Body goals: Kim said she wants to slim down to her ‘goal weight’ before she turns 40 on October 21 (pictured at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in October, 2013 – four months after giving birth to her first child North)
Kim wearing bike shorts and a studded jacket in Venice, Los Angeles on May 2016, five months after she gave birth to her son Saint in December 2015
Kim previously revealed that she gained about 27 kilos (60 pounds) during her pregnancy with son Saint back in 2015.
After giving birth, she documented her weight-loss journey while on the Atkins Diet, frequently posting photos of her scale to her Instagram story.
Her goal was to get back to the body shape she had in 2010, before she’d given birth to her first child North.
Kim later revealed to People that her ‘body icon’ is her younger sister Khloé: ‘I saw her naked two days ago changing. And I was, ‘Oh, my God. You are my body icon.’ She’s never been more on fire.’
Kim has butted heads in the past with The Good Place star and body positive activist Jameela Jamil.
Jameela has gone after Kim and other celebrities for promoting a line of appetite-suppressant lollipops, as well as her KKW body makeup.