Janet Jackson's Diet at 11: Weight Issues Began on 'Good Times'

Janet Jackson's diet at 11 began on the set of Good Times when she played Penny. On CNN's Piers Morgan Show, Jackson said weight issues at that age, caused a self-esteem crisis, compelling her to not feel "worthy."

Imagine being told when you were just a young 11-year-old kid that you had to lose weight because you were too "big," and it was a necessary part of your gig.

On the CNN Piers Morgan Show, Jackson, 44, opened up about her rocky past in growing up as a young 11-year-old in a high-profile family, where she was the youngest of the siblings.

Janet Jackson's diet at 11 - Good Times not good at all

Her weight issues and low self-esteem began when she played as Penny in the African American urban sitcom Good Times. Remember J.J. Evans and dynomite!?

The Control star said the producers told her she should make an attempt to lose weight for she was “too big” for what they had in mind. She never saw herself as being "heavy" and didn't quite understand what beauty was at that point.

In one brief moment, her life would change, and she still struggles with issues of beauty based on that one encounter, that she kept private for many years. She couldn't understand it. In a way, she thought she had done something that made her less than worthy of a roll in entertainment.

Janet Jackson's diet at 11 - Becoming an emotional eater

After that frightening moment in her life on the set of Good Times, Jackson found a silent way to cope. She began to eat even more. It appeared that eating was her only means of control, her only way to cope with being less than beautiful. Her weight continues to go on a see-saw journey.

"I was an emotional eater. I still am. I've learned how to handle certain issues and not to run to that for comfort. It's just not about, 'OK, how do you stop the eating?' It's deeper than that."

How many other kids out there, like Janet Jackson, are suffering in silence with the thoughts that they are too big, too short, too skinny, too dark, too light, etcetera?

Janet Jackson's diet at 11 was allowed to get out of control because she didn't and still doesn't have anyone to tell her to stop.

There has to be someone who can call her out on it when it' out of control. But she's Janet, Miss Jackson if you're nasty. Who’s brave enough to have that debate with her?

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Photo credit: Wikipedia

Photo credit: Wikipedia

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