The INSIDER Summary:

• Body positivity activist Allison Kimmey recently shared a touching story on Instagram.
• Her young daughter called her fat, and she used the moment to teach her a valuable lesson.
• "Some people have a lot [of fat], and others don't have very much. But that doesn't mean that one person is better than the other," she told her daughter. 

When Allison Kimmey told her kids it was time to get out of the pool, her daughter got upset and lashed out. She turned to her brother and called her mother "fat."

But Kimmey, a body positivity activist and inspirational speaker, didn't get angry. Instead, she used the moment to teach her son and her daughter a vital lesson about body-shaming. On Sunday she took to Instagram and Facebook to share this anecdote with her followers. 

"The truth is, I am not fat. No one IS fat. It's not something you can BE. But I do HAVE fat. We ALL have fat," Kimmey told her kids, according to the post she shared. "Some people have a lot, and others don't have very much. But that doesn't mean that one person is better than the other."

Kimmey also urged parents to combat body-shaming attitudes that their children might be exposed to, even at a young age.

"Since we don't call people fat as an insult in my household, I have to assume she internalized this idea from somewhere or someone else," Kimmey wrote. "Ideas about body image are already filtering through their minds. It is our job to continue to be the loudest, most accepting, positive and CONSISTENT voice they hear. So that it can rise above the rest."

Commenters, for the most part, reacted with overwhelming support. 

"You handled that situation with such grace and are a fantastic role model to your children and the universe for that matter!"one person wrote. 

"Her children are young and she's showing them that its not nice to bully others by calling them fat but accepting them for who they are,"another said. "I commend her for handling the situation the way she did."

You can read Kimmey's full post below:

My daughter called me fat today.

She was upset I made them get out of the pool and she told her brother that mama is fat.

I told her to meet me upstairs so we could chat.

Me: "what did you say about me?"

Her: "I said you were fat, mama, im sorry"

Me: "let's talk about it. The truth is, I am not fat. No one IS fat. It's not something you can BE. But I do HAVE fat. We ALL have fat. It protects our muscles and our bones and keeps our bodies going by providing us energy. Do you have fat?"

Her: "yes! I have some here on my tummy"

Me: "that's right! So do I and so does your brother!"

Her brother: "I don't have any fat, I'm the skinniest, I just have muscles"

Me: "actually everyone, every single person in the world has fat. But each of us has different amounts."

Her brother: " oh right! I have some to protect my big muscles! But you have more than me"

Me: "Yes, that's true. Some people have a lot, and others don't have very much. But that doesn't mean that one person is better than the other, do you both understand?

Both: "yes, mama"

Me: "so can you repeat what I said"

Them: "yes! I shouldn't say someone is fat because you can't be just fat, but everyone HAS fat and it's okay to have different fat"

Me: "exactly right!"

Them: "can we go back to the pool now?"

Me: no 
__________________

Each moment these topics come up i have to choose how I'm going to handle them. Fat is not a bad word in our house. If I shame my children for saying it then I am proving that it is an insulting word and I continue the stigma that being fat is unworthy, gross, comical and undesirable.

Since we don't call people fat as an insult in my household, I have to assume she internalized this idea from somewhere or someone else. Our children are fed ideas from every angle, you have to understand that that WILL happen: at a friends house whose parents have different values, watching a tv show or movie, overhearing someone at school- ideas about body image are already filtering through their minds. It is our job to continue to be the loudest, most accepting, positive and CONSISTENT voice they hear. So that it can rise above the rest.

Give me a 🙌🏻 if this resonated w u!
Just do you!
Xoxo
Allie

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A mother and daughter duo creates adorable makeup tutorials