MacRaven - Dave Haxton's Weblog

Sun, 02 Jul 2006

Experts debate labeling children obese

The problem is that 20 years ago, when these kids' parents were kids, what is now considered "obese" was called "healthy", and what was called "emaciated" is now called "fit". Fashion, as they say, goes in one year and out the other.

All in all, these debates about what to say to whom and when remind me of the gentleman pictured at the left. Click the image for a fuller discussion along these lines...

AP - Is it OK for doctors and parents to tell children and teens they're fat?

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

/Politics | 4 writebacks | permanent link

On 7/3/2006 10:25:18
Bjorngrímnir wrote

Labels

If you had to survive on your own, romping through the woods and making your own life, would you be physically fit enough to do so? If so, I tend to think that you are as 'fit' as you Nature intended, regardless how big around the middle you might be. If walking over a couple of small hills and climbing a tree to get a better view of where you are at would leave you winded, then you might need to think about increasing your level of fitness. That scale applies primarily to those who are not otherwise disabled by injury, disease or age. For those who are, then I think it depends on how well one would perform in accordance with what would normally be expected for said disability.

On 7/3/2006 11:24:39
Dave H wrote

What!?!

A rational definition of "fitness"! It's pretty obvious you don't work for a health agency! Thanks for the comment and Be well, Dave H.

On 7/5/2006 11:31:00
Thorolf wrote

Having been both skinny and fat over the course of my life, I like to go with 'healthy' vs. 'unhealthy' myself. There are good ways to go about working on the overall health and fitness of one's kids, and there are the ways that don't really work that well - unfortunatly, most people are familiar mostly with the latter. Calling your child 'fatso' after not seeing him for 3 years doesn't work - my mom can attest to this one, and it's part of the reason for that 3 year gap in the first place... But then, she's not fond of the beard or the long hair, either - that's another story!

On 7/7/2006 07:46:03
Arwin wrote

Obesity has its price

I like the healthy/unhealthy label better than obese/not obese. I like what Bjorngrimnir said about defining these states too. However let's not forget the price of obesity in and of itself. For example, obesity makes it more difficult for the body to effectively use insulin. Many (not all) obese people eventually suffer from diabetes. It is more prevalent as you age. There is a definite link. I know people who have been able to keep from being insulin dependent diabetics by regulating their weight and diet. The problem with diseases resulting from a life of obesity is that these diseases sneak up on you. You can be obese for a long time before the body gives up and the disease presents itself... like diabetes for example. The market for insulin is booming world wide, because the population is becoming more obese. Good news for me. Good thread.

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