Georgia Is Targeting Fat Kids

[hatelilpeepees]

In Georgia, a new campaign has been launched to raise awareness about childhood obesity.  Some say that people need to hear the truth and that "chubby is not cute" (reads one billboard on the interstate, showing an obese 12 year old), others say the message is too harsh, and may do more harm to obese kids who are already targets of ridicule among peers.  Here is some information:

http://www.thatsfit....gia-go-too-far/

Here are four of the billboards, may be hard to read:

http://blogs.babycen...llboards-wrong/  

Is it toom much "in your face", or is it "what we need to hear" ?

Edited October 3, 2011 by hatelilpeepees

[FNGfirstresponder]

This is great, I believe obese kids should be put in foster care, as their parents are obviously negligent and putting there kids at risk.

[Happiness]

There was a study on sleep patterns and teenagers. If you make your teen go to bed earlier then they are more apt to be more active and healthy, which would mean less obesity. I live in a Native community and Obesity is very high here. It is not uncommen to have a 250 to 350 lbs pt.

But before we take away all the obese kids from their families you have to make sure the problem is not from medical or emotional issues. One of the problems here is sexual abuse and what happens is the victim will become obese so they are left alone by predetors.

I also think that we should not be feeding our kids processed foods as much as we do. I have never really cared for alot of processed foods so there fore my kids never really ate it. The most kraft dinner they had was 3 times a year maybe. I luv this slogan "Try Organic Food......or as your grand parents called it, FOOD.

The other issue is that our kids dont drink enough water and are to easy to grab a pop and they consume alot of liquid calories, so in the end if you dont buy the junk the kids dont eat the junk.

[MedicNorth]

Agreed. Obesity is a huge problem in adults in our western society, and it usually is the result of lifestyle habits developed as children. I am not sure about American statistics, but I would assume they are similar to those up here. According to Health Canada, obesity related health issues cause more deaths and cost our healthcare system more than smoking does.

Most children do not get enough exercise, and have unhealthy eating habits that often mirror those of their parents. it is time to push hard to change perceptions, and reduce this problem we are saddling a large segment f a generation with. Change does not come easy, and frankly, I dont buy the self-esteem argument - if your has low self-esteem because you feed him too much and let him play vidgames all night, dont get upset with the billboard or the campaign - take active steps to give him the skills and habits to cope with the problem. Believe me, Self-esteem will rebound with success. He will also likely live a lot longer and more successfully.

[Richard B the EMT]

Years ago, I recall a program where they expounded on fat as not being ugly, but being unhealthy. Putting billboards up, the State of Georgia has crossed the line into Bullying. New Jersey has anti bullying laws now on the books.

[Just Plain Ruff]

the only reason why they are targetting fat kids or fat people in general (I'm one of them) is that we make bigger targets than those waif thin super models.

[ORmedic65]

Eh, the billboards might be a little too much, and like someone else said it's almost like Georgia has crossed that bullying line. However, it is rather obvious that childhood obesity needs to be addressed, whether or not this is the way to do it remains to be seen. Removing the pictures from the billboards seems like it might be a good idea, because this campaign does have the potential to increase bullying, and hopefully that risk might be reduced a little bit by removing the pictures.

[Richard B the EMT]

the only reason why they are targetting fat kids or fat people in general (I'm one of them) is that we make bigger targets than those waif thin super models.

Until they become models, they can also be bullied for being thin.

[hatelilpeepees]

To shed a little more light, or a different perspective, I talked to one of the nurse managers at our local children's hospital and their stance is:

If someone brings in a child that suffers from accidental trauma (bike accident, not wearing a helmet) or from accidental poisoning (cabinets not locked), they have a duty to educate the parents of what they did wrong and how they can prevent injuries in the future (which they have done for decades). So why should they NOT step in when the parents are killing their children slowly through obesity ?

They knew it would ruffle feathers, but they are getting the message across. In the south, the juvenile diabetes rate is through the roof. I am still on the fence being a fat ass myself, but I understand a little more.

[Happiness]

they should put a picture of an obese heart on the billboard