At first, the anti-obesity advertisements featured in a Georgia campaign seem like a cruel joke. Pudgy, round, and yes, just plain fat kids are featured in a series of print and television advertisements with harsh messages like "Fat prevention begins at home and the buffet line" and "My fat may be funny to you, but it's killing me."
Is this just fat shaming taken to a new low level? Many think so, with plenty outraged at the advertisements. But I think they just may be the kind of powerful and poignant messages parents need to hear to help their kids get healthy.
Obesity is a problem, plain and simple; Georgia holds the title for the second highest childhood obesity rates. The scariest part is that most parents don't think their obese children are obese. In research conducted by Strong4Life, co-founded by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, it was found that 75 percent of parents whose children are overweight or obese don't see a problem. That's a BIG problem.
Arguments against so-called fat shaming usually go along the lines of hey, we know we're fat, telling us so just makes us feel bad and doesn't help. I have mixed feelings on that whole debate when it comes to adults, but when it comes to these kids, they may not even know they have a problem if their parents don't. How do they have any chance of fighting it, if they don't know it's something to fight? It's a parent's job to take care of their child's health, and helping them maintain a healthy weight is part of the deal -- a very important part of the deal.
Yes, obesity runs in some families, and some people have a harder time staying slim than others, but for most, it's about poor nutrition and a lack of exercise -- things that CAN be corrected if people, especially parents, try. It's not easy, I know. No matter how many organic fruits and vegetables I bring home, my kids salivate at the sight of junk food. Hell, so do I, but we work to balance it all because I want my kids to be healthy -- it's a priority. If parents aren't making similar choices, then yes, they do need a wake-up call to do so -- no matter how harsh the message may be. It's a harsh problem.
Some say it just adds to the social stigma of being overweight, but honestly I'm not sure anything can be added there. It's there, and it's unfortunate, but calling fat what it is isn't cruel, it's identifying a problem that needs to be solved. Solving it is complex, yes, but it can't start until people recognize it as a problem.
The most worrisome part of the advertisements I see is the kids actually posing for them; they break my heart. What kind of treatment are they going to get at school when they're literally the poster children for fat kids? But they seem to be strong in support of the message. As 14-year-old Maya Walters told The Atlanta Journal Constitution:
I think it's very brave to talk about the elephant in the room. It’s very provocative and makes people uncomfortable, but it’s when people are uncomfortable that change comes.
Bravo to all of them for being courageous enough to participate.
Will these ads solve the childhood obesity problem in Georgia? Certainly not, and no, they don't offer any solutions for fixing the problem. But will they make a mom pause before picking up a bag of potato chips or detouring through a drive-thru instead of making dinner? Perhaps, and if parents need a harsh glaring message to help them make such decisions for their children and set a good example, then so be it. As the ads say, we need to stop sugarcoating it.
What do you think of these anti-obesity advertisements? Too harsh, or effective?
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Comments 70
My point is, it's not just environmental. My two brothers ate the same diet I did, and had very similar activity schedules. We ALL were in sports and band. We all drank whole fat milk at home and ate double school lunches and big, home cooked dinners. And we all had three entirely different builds. I was built on big, strong lines with broad hips and ribs; very like my Canadian-Scottish ancestors. My middle brother was SKINNY. When he was young, you could see his ribs and he ate as much as all of us did. He played little league, baseball and football and wrestled, but once middle school started he dropped football in favor of cross-country. My youngest brother 18 months younger than my middle brother was often mistaken for his twin bc they were of a height and both had blonde hair and blue eyes. But there the resemblance ended. Youngest brother grew on big, strong, nearly perfect lines. When asked once why he wasn't playing football (my dad was a coach, which is why I was a coach) dad replied that he was still in the second grade. The other coach watched YB for a few minutes then said, "That's the biggest damned second grader I've ever seen." Not fat.
Cont...
Three kids. Same genetics, same environment, same diet. Three entirely different body types. The point of this is, there just isn't one factor. No amount of shame could make me less thick in the hips and thighs, or less broad or tall than I was. No amount of junk food could have made my MB less skinny, or my YB less big for his age. We didn't eat alot of junk food, but we ate ALOT. We'd carbload the night before a game or a compatition. Turns out my parents were right about that.
I don't know what the answer is. But I don't think the answer is putting kids on TV. I don't know. Yes there are more overweight kids now than there have been pretty much ever. And it isn't their fault. And I see these PSA's trying to wake up parents. But it won't work. The parents who care already KNOW and the parents who don't will get defensive and ignore it. And nothing will change. Heath comes in all sizes. Not all kids who are "fat" are fat because they sit around and eat junk food. I don't know what the answer is. But I'm not a fan of public shaming. This feels an awful lot like public shaming to me.
Genetics play a big part in it, but they are not everything. If you do everything right and you are still heavy, then stuff like this is not directed at you. this stuff is directed at the parents who give their kids powdered doughnuts and chocolate milk for breakfast, processed junk for lunch and fast food for dinner. I hate hearing how it is an issue of "not enough time," get up twenty minutes earlier and buy a freaking crock pot. take a walk after dinner in the warmer months. jeeze, small changes can lead to weight stabilization. Kids with actual health problems don't need to worry, but kids who are fat because their parents made them that way? this might just help them.
I really don't think that shaming a child or anyone for that matter works to make them want to make changes. For all the people on here who thinks it better than doing nothing I just have to ask, would you also try to shame an alcoholic into quit drinking or shame a drug addict into quitting drugs or a sex addict into quitting having sex? I'm just curious because it seems so much more acceptable these days to admit to any other "bad" habit and not have people hold it against you. My family is fairly lucky that none of our kids are overweight and even most of us adults are just a few pounds (10 to 20) overweight but I still think if we ran into this problem with one of our kids, we wouldn't shame them into change but help them change with a postitive enviorment. Oh and for the record, after growing up with a father who drink too much and remembering how I would beg and plead for him to stop didn't help and my last relationship before my husband was a drug addict and alcoholic and yeah shaming and guilting did nothing there either.
i feel ya butterflymkm.
@zyva - 4 1/2 feet tall and 85 lbs is not overweight! She will show above avergage for both height and weight, but as long as those two percentiles are similar, she's okay! You need to go by her height, not her age!