Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm has revealed she banned any talk of diets around her daughter after her own battle with an eating disorder.
The Spice Girl, known as Sporty Spice and Mel C, spent years under-eating and “obsessively exercising” while dealing with the pressures of being in the globally famous pop group.
She was diagnosed with depression as well as an eating disorder and once said she was lucky to survive after eating nothing but fruit and vegetables for years.
Chisholm said the experiences changed how she raised her daughter, Scarlet.
Speaking to Women’s Health magazine, she said: “I didn’t ever allow people to speak about diets in our house.
“Scarlet’s 10 years old now and I’m starting to notice that she’s more conscious of the way she looks, but I think one of the positives of having gone through having an eating disorder is that I’m very conscious of how I speak around her.
“That positive language – it’s habit now.”
Chisholm shot to fame as part of the Spice Girls in the 1990s, before the rise of social media.
While modern pop stars have to endure bullying from online trolls, Mel C said “disgusting” comments about her in the press led to her body issues.
She said: “I started not looking after myself properly, cutting out food groups, and my exercising became more and more obsessive, to the point that I was underweight.
“I was unwell and that probably continued for a couple of years.”
The November Mind Issue of Women’s Health, featuring Chisholm, is on sale on Tuesday October 2.
