Childhood Obesity ~Stop Childhood Obesity! I think we all know how I feel about Childhood Obesity and the obesity epidemic in general. I’m against it because I am for health. I obviously blame the parents because after-all, the parent is the person responsible for dictating what a child eats. Correct? Last I checked, a child does not determine what is put on the table or sent for lunch on their own. We buy the groceries, we cook the food, we do the parenting; the end. That all being said, Georgia’s Strong4Life campaign is out of it’s f*cking collective mind in it’s delivery. Who ever thought it was a good idea to start a campaign to “help” children lose weight by shaming them into it by making them the literal poster children for fat kids? Who is this helpful to?
Childhood Obesity Sucks
But what sucks even more so is giving kids complexes about their weight. Let’s get them outside and get them some activity. Let’s provide better school lunches. Let’s teach parents nutrition. Let’s stop shoving carbs, sweets and juices at our children every time they make a noise. But let’s not put photos, billboards and videos of overweight children all over the state as a reminder to the children , “Hey kid, you’re fat. Stop eating so much. Your parents don’t care about you and just ignore the fact that you weigh 200 pounds at the age of 10.Your parents don’t care and look where it’s gotten you. It’s gotten you obese! Stop eating!”
Parent’s You are Responsible for Childhood Obesity
I don’t like this campaign’s tactics. I feel like exploiting photos of obese children is just mean. If it’s going to be done, let’s place blame where it belongs… on the parents. Let’s add an even bigger photo of the parents of the kid and squarely label it parenting failure. I’m a parent, and I am also a person who has had a lifetime of body issues and I am pretty sure had anyone EVER used my photo on a billboard and said “ignoring this problem is what got us here” I would have promptly thrown myself off of said billboard. I think this campaign is needed ( for sure) but I think the photos of the obese children and labeling them ” a problem” is demeaning. Of course, I realize that childhood obesity is a problem but really it’s a symptom, the real cancer is the lazy parents who don’t want to put any effort into parenting their children. It’s easier to feed them bad food in the car, give into their whining and let them play video games and watch television than it is to be a parent and make unpopular choices, especially if it impedes in their own comfort and requires any exertion on their part.
This week’s throat punch goes to the lazy ass parents who are creating this epidemic of childhood obesity and to the campaign against childhood obesity that exploits obese children by using them as cautionary tales. The idea is good, the execution fails almost as miserably as those lazy parents of these poor kids. What are your thoughts on the childhood obesity epidemic and the parents who sit idly by as their children eat themselves into a self destructive stupor in front of the television?
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