Jenna Bush Hager has never been one to shy away from openly speaking on her opinions, personal anecdotes, and insight into her kids' lives as co-anchor of Today Show's 4th Hour of Hoda and Jenna, and next to co-host Hoda Kotb, she always presents her most candid self.
Such was the case during a recent installment of the long-running morning show, where she opened up about her relationship with body image, not owning a scale, and how her approach has manifested itself in her kids' own response to weight.
The Today Show star has three kids with her husband of 15 years, Henry Hager. They share daughters Mila, ten, Poppy, seven, and son Hal, three.
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Speaking with Hoda on the show, Jenna opened up about the fact that she doesn't own a scale in her house, and how her daughter Mila had no idea what one was because of it until recently.
She explained she had "this really weird thing this weekend" during their stay at a friend's cottage – so her kids "can go to camp with their old pals" – where Mila came across a scale and wasn't at all familiar with what it was.
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There was a scale in the bathroom," Jenna recalled, adding: "And Mila was like, 'What is that?' Because I don't own a scale. I've never… I mean we weighed ourselves here which was sort of a disaster," remembering a previous segment where the hosts were weighed and asked to guess how much it was before their weight was announced to the audience.
She continued: "But anyways, I don't own a scale. [The kids] have never seen [one]," maintaining: "I don't want to be beholden to some number on a machine that makes me feel bad," to which Hoda responded with: "That's interesting."
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Jenna shared that Mila was very curious about what the scale was, and after the mom-of-three explained it to her, though any parent fears their kids developing problematic eating habits and difficult body image issues, at least for now, Mila's response was entirely positive.
"She's like, 'Let's weigh Holly!'" Jenna revealed, referring to her family's newest furry addition, Hollywood the cat.
She added: "She started weighing everything. She weighed the cat – the cat weighs 14 pounds, no, seven, a lot of it is fur, who cares – she started weighing things, but it's so interesting."
Hoda then mused: "That [is a] lesson right there of not having that out. Because I think that's one of those things that you don't – you know, some people don't step on a scale but they're constantly adjusting."
After a clip from their conversation was shared on the show's social media, fans were quick to react to the story, and found Jenna's decision to not have a scale both refreshing and commendable.
"Thank you. I have had to deal with this my whole life. Not good on self esteem and self confidence. You are right Health is more than the number on the scale," one fan wrote, as others added: "This is so healthy! Your worth is not the number on the scale.," and: "Great! I've never had a scale in my home either, it's a terrible way to define ourselves."
Another fan also said: "I agree with Jenna. If you feel good , why put so much emphasis on a number to define how 'you' feel about yourself!"