Fitness blogger criticised for workout videos targeting children as young as one
A fitness blogger and personal trainer is being criticised for promoting “damaging” body image messages after releasing workout videos that teach children as young as one how to squat, salsa dance, and eat healthily.
Ashy Bines, 29, uses her platform as a social media influencer to show off her toned body and run her Australian fitness empire.
But now the mum has come under fire for her new business venture, Ashy and Friends - a workout cartoon targeted towards getting young children to exercise.
According to the Ashy and Friends website, the new “Edu-tainment” DVD series is a “fun packed music, fitness and education show for one to six years olds. It is a highly interactive experience and will have your child singing, dancing, exercising and smiling from ear to ear.”
And it is “perfect for boys and girls ages one to six.”
Featuring cartoon characters, which will help animated Ashy and her magic shoes fly around the world, each episode will also teach children about “geography, language, music, nutrition and fitness,” according to the website, because “more than ever it is CRITICAL to inspire a love of health and fitness in our children.”
However, Christine Morgan, CEO of The Butterfly Foundation, an organisation dedicated to people with eating disorders and negative body image, does not think the videos are a good idea.
