Child Anti-Obesity Education: the wrong approach

When I tell people about my blog, this is the most common response that I get:

Really?  Don't you believe that people should be healthy?

Most people who have lived on Planet Ruthless Beauty Gods their whole lives really believe that our society's current approach is the only, best way to get people to be healthy, may the Most Motivated woman win.  

Obviously, yes, I do believe in good health practices.  I happen to be a very health-conscious person.  Doing some kind of physical activity every day is essential not only to my physical well-being but to my sanity.  I cook for myself as frequently as possible, and am careful to make balanced meals for myself with plenty of protein, grains, veggies, and yes, fat.  Hell, I even like my kale raw (sometimes).

Of course, through this blog, I am working to make the point that being fat and being healthy are not at odds with each other.  If you read my posts, you've noticed this is more of a "Raise Your Consciousness and Don't be a Jerk" blog than a "Do this to be healthy" blog - seeing that you can find that information, uh, pretty much everywhere.

I am an advocate to all people who struggle with society's messages about fat, but I am specifically an ally to fat people because the ways in which the anti-fat stigma affects them are the most obvious.  And I strongly believe that in accepting and loving fat people's bodies and humanity, us non-fat people can learn to feel better about ourselves and all of the non-conforming features of our bodies.

(On a tangent, I appreciated that poster that was making the rounds on facebook with the pieces of fruit complaining about their bodies and the tagline that said, If only they knew, they had such sweet bodies, but I also think that's hands-down the creepiest thing I have ever heard.  Maybe it's the past tense?  I imagine a tall faceless man in a cloak, whispering that while smacking his lips together.)

And some people are both fat and unhealthy.  And while I encourage every one to take care of themselves, I understand that stigma and shame and hatred are utterly crippling, especially when all your medial information reinforces that you are a social problem and a freak.  And if I am not vested in that person, personally, I can write a blog post and tell people to stop laughing at her, but it's really none of my business.  

Also, it does not mean that her body is ugly.  

And it does not give me permission to exploit her in any number of ways that other people, the media, and medical professionals exploit her.

Just to remind you, this is the bare minimum of human decency.  

But then, the conversation shifts to our children.  And it gets even more personal.

Childhood obesity is a hot topic.  There have been several popular reality TV shows to raise our awareness on the topic, including Shaq's Big Challenge and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  Our much loved First Lady Michelle Obama is a champion of combatting childhood obesity.

What causes childhood obesity?  Nature or nurture?  In either case, the blame falls on the child's parents.  This view makes me cringe a little.  Parents already must accept responsibility for all their children's' imperfections.  Our society's view of what constitutes good health is privileged -- access to good food, green areas in which to play, safe areas to be outside, the availability of adult chaperones -- many people can't take these things for granted.

But if you're going to tell people to not be obese any more, Minnesota is doing it wrong.  You can't stigmatize the fat away.  It doesn't work.

The MN Blue Cross has been airing these commercials, targeted at parents who have a sudden wake-up call:

GAH.  Blogger is not finding these videos.  I'll see if I can upload them later.  To summarize, in one video, two boys in a fast food restaurant are bragging that their father can eat more.  One of the fathers comes to the table holding a tray straining under the weight of tons of food, looking down and feeling ashamed.  In another video, a fat woman is in the grocery store, wheeling around unhealthy groceries, and notices that her daughter is doing the same with her little cart.

The Atlantic ran an article on anti-obesity campaigns, highlighting findings from the Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity on American's attitudes towards various visible obesity slogans.  The study found

basically what was expected: the public craves positive reinforcement and rejects stigmatizing or otherwise negative messages. . .'The most positively rated were campaigns that focused on encouraging specific health behaviors or actions, like eating fruits and vegetables every day or engaging in physical activity' said lead author Rebecca Puhl, 'And the most motivating were the ones that made no mention of obesity or weight at all.'

Few studies have been done to correlate between well-received obesity slogans and better health practices.  This post is already far too long, so I'll leave it to you, readers: what do you think?