With so many concerns about overweight children and the impact that the additional weight has on their health, is anyone looking at the effect obesity has on a child’s self- esteem and self image?
Sharon DuMas of Full and Fabulous says she’s doing just that. She is the president and founder of Full & Fabulous International and the Curvy Girl Project. A former beauty director for the Miss Black America pageant, DuMas started Full & Fabulous in 1982, with a vision of promoting health, beauty and self-esteem in plus size/curvy women and girls, ages 9-17.
Full & Fabulous is a non-profit 501C3 organization that assists plus-size women and girls in coping with the peer pressure of being overweight and promotes lifetime habits of good nutrition and physical fitness.
Since 1982 DuMas has appeared on numerous local, national and international television and radio talk shows as a pioneer and expert in the field of weight management through culturally appropriate living, which has exposed her concept to millions. She believes that Full & Fabulous is “a state of mind, not a dress size.”
The Curvy Girl Project is a holistic wrap-around service offering fun and hands-on educational tools for participating youth and their families for complete lifestyle change in nutrition, fitness, self-confidence, examining culture of unhealthy eating habits and creating a support system of peers and community, identifying affordable and accessible supply of healthy foods, healthy snack and meal preparation demonstrations. They also have a hotline for participating youth to share their success and challenges.
The purpose of The Curvy Girl Project is to educate, motivate and inspire plus size/curvy girls to make healthier choices in every area of their lives, learn to love themselves and others collectively and to specifically improve their Body Image and Body mass Index (BMI).
All participants receive guided training and counsel in multi-level personal physical and mental health, gain leadership skills needed to become peer educators and participate in the annual “A Rose is Still A Rose Plus Size Debutante Ball.” They meet weekly in select public and charter schools in the metropolitan Detroit area and also meet with the girls on Saturday at their east side location inside the Samaritan Center.
Young ladies who have gone through the program and have shown positive lifestyle change are trained to be youth advocates and educators in raising awareness of issues related to health disparities, measures to address obesity such as nutrition, exercise, self-esteem and shopping healthy.
The mission is to promote lifetime habits of good nutrition and physical activity and to instill the necessary skills and tools for plus sized/curvy girls to achieve and fulfill future aspirations while coping with and handling adversity with grace and confidence. Health, Beauty & Self-Esteem is our focus.
They aim to build character and confidence under the guidance of this program, by offering weekly activities. Once the individual has completed the program they will have boosted their self-esteem, learned how to achieve a healthy lifestyle and develop a positive outlook on life.
The program offers classes one hour a week at select public, charter, and private schools in the metropolitan Detroit area and on Saturdays from 11 am to 2 pm. at The Samaritan Center. Call (313) 331-4929, visit the website at www.fullandfabulous.org or email fullnfabulous@hotmail.com for more information.
About Post Author
