Yolanda Hadid’s Attitude To Dieting On The Real Housewives Was Incredibly Problematic

Earlier this week, Bella Hadid{ =nofollow}created headlines when she admitted to getting a nose job at 14. The supermodel, now 25, has said she regrets the decision, as she thinks she would have 'grown into' the 'nose of my ancestors'. Yolanda, her mother, has received a lot of criticism since, with many wondering why she let her daughter have plastic surgery at such a young age.

It's not the first time Yolanda has courted controversy over her parenting style, which was watched by millions on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills{ =nofollow}. Yolanda, a former model, was what many would probably refer to as a pushy parent - as she strived for her daughters to also make it as models. (Gigi started modelling at the age of two for Guess, with Bella starting out a lot later.)

But some feel that she took it too far - and her behaviour towards Gigi and Bella as teenagers was the kind of the toxic attitude towards food which can contribute to eating disorders. In fact, in the same interview where she discussed her nose job, Bella said that she had anorexia as a teen, athough it's worth noting that there can be a myriad of complex reasons why someone can develop an eating disorder. In the chat, Bella said that she did not blame Yolanda, and claimed that her eating disorder was partially triggered by Adderall, which she was taking for wrongly being diagnosed with ADHD, when she showed signs of depression and anxiety.

Diet was one of Yolanda's keywords. In one of the most shocking scenes, she tells Gigi that she's only able to eat 'bad' food for one night on her birthday, because as Gigi was about to work fashion week, Yolanda told her they like girls 'just a tad on the skinny side' in Milan and Paris. (As we know, food - however unhealthy it is - is not good or bad.) Another stand out scene is when Gigi calls Yolanda, telling her she feels faint, and has eaten half an almond. Yolanda's advice? For Gigi to eat another couple of almonds.

In season four, she also praises Gigi for a diet (which sounds no fun, and very unhealthy), telling her: 'Aren't you proud? It's hard to exercise six days a week. It's hard to not eat any sugar, and it's hard to have to eat a salad every day, but now you see how it pays off.'

Her commitment to modelling meant that Yolanda also worried about Gigi playing volleyball, because Yolanda considered it a 'masculine' sport, which would make Gigi 'big and bulky'. 'Volleyball is a very masculine sport. Modeling a very feminine thing,' Yolanda tells the then-17-year-old while preparing dinner for her family in the season three episode that aired in 2012.

Yolanda was even unimpressed when Gigi tried to eat cake at her own graduation. 'This is the hardest for being on our diet,' she tells her when she cuts the cake. Yolanda herself then eats a teeny tiny piece of cake.

Growing up with this kind of attitude around food, it would be hard not to be impacted.

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