The War on Childhood Obesity has gone too far...


 
This absolutely breaks my heart --- can we all just agree that the war on childhood obesity has gone too far?! These are children and the fact that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta thought this was okay to advertise absolutely disgusts me!

I support a “healthy” approach to living, but this does not include shaming individuals for their size – ESPECIALLY CHILDREN! Isn’t there enough bullying in schools without ads like these encouraging children to judge others based on their physical appearance?!

NEWS FLASH parents – it is absolutely normal for children to gain weight prior to puberty – and it is ABSOLUTELY NOT HEALTHY to encourage children to diet.

If you are concerned about your child’s weight, encourage moderate exercise (3 days per week) and increase intake of fruits and vegetables. DO NOT tease them about their weight and DO NOT encourage dieting! Children should not grow up fearing the consequences of eating pizza, desserts, and other high calorie foods. All foods are “good foods” in moderation…and the more you encourage children to abstain from these foods, the more they will crave them.

The increased amount of “reduced fat,” “reduced calorie,” “gluten free,” etc. foods we consume while refraining from more satisfying foods – the more out of control we feel. We eat more in our society because we are constantly made aware that we should all be on diets. There is a direct positive correlation between the amount of food we tell ourselves “we shouldn’t” eat ….and the amount that we desire.

            The average woman has a resting metabolic rate that requires approx. 1500 calories per day….that is RESTING metabolic rate. Ladies, this means that your body requires approx. 1500 calories just to function (we have organs that need nourishment, our nails and hair and all of our cells need to continue to regenerate) ---- approx. 1500 calories would be required even if you were lying in bed all day…and most of us are not. Walking and talking and laughing and everything we do – requires energy! It is not the truth that you need to “work off” via intense exercise all the calories you consume.

We do not have to direct our body to breathe, or our hearts to pump, and WE CERTAINLY DO NOT HAVE TO RESTRICT OUR FOOD INTAKE AND OVEREXERCISE to “control” our weight. Our bodies function like a furnace – we all have a genetic set point range - and there is very little you can do about this. Your choices are:

a)      Lose weight via becoming extremely unhealthy: over-exercise and restrict your diet to the point that you focus on diet and exercise constantly, while giving less focus to other areas of your life

 

b)      Gain weight via attempting to diet, but eventually giving into your cravings....the dieting will cause your metabolism to slow and retain more calories due to fear that a period of restriction will come again and energy will need to be stored to survive.

 

People ask me why this message I present runs contradictory to everything we see in the media…Why? Because the advertising industry, weight loss industry, and all the T.V. shows (e.g. Dr. Phil, Dr. OZ, Good morning America segment on health and fitness) want to MAKE MONEY!!!!! They know what they have created – a diet obsessed, fitness obsessed culture where everyone is looking for the “next best gimmick” --- because the 50 other things they’ve tried haven’t worked!

Seriously, I watched the Dr. Oz show the other day where Cameron Diaz shared her new book and her “tips.” She discussed chugging a huge bottle of water prior to getting in the shower each morning…for about a ½ second, my mind thought hmmm, maybe that could make some kind of difference – then my logical brain started functioning again and reminded me that this is “MAGICAL THINKING” ---- Cameron Diaz looks the way she does because her body is her primary focus--- she probably works out for hours per day, has incredible genetics, and even if she chugged a liter of coca-cola every day she would probably still look that way – this is a genetic lottery win much more than the result of any “tricks” you’re going to learn from her. (By the way, I normally don’t watch that show because I think his segments are mostly a load of BS, but someone I knew was on the show, so I tuned in).   

I’m honestly really worried about what this world is going to be like if this trend continues. More eating disorders, more weight gain for many due to diet failure, and continued anxiety and depression. Individuals that do achieve weight loss (at the expense of their other values) will inevitably feel unsatisfied and depressed. Those that continuously attempt to lose weight and are unable to will inevitably feel anxious about their inability to control their weight.

Our bodies are a home, not a measuring stick of our self-worth. What matters is inside - how our organs are able to function and how mentally healthy we feel.  I wish we lived in a world where compliments about personality and other traits were doled out regularly and appearance based compliments were not…but this is the world we live in…

I would only like to offer one thought…people in general are pretty self-focused – the compliments they give you about your appearance likely last a moment in their minds…don’t base your life pursuits on this approval. Your weight is not a reflection of your willpower or drive for success in this world, nor is it a reflection of your worth to others --- but our culture will try to convince you of this…

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