This morning, coffee in one hand, oatmeal with protein powder and raisins in the other, I stumbled on this article about Michelle Obama's childhood obesity initiative.
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/is-it-okay-to-talk-about-your-daughters-weight-if-it-s-for-the-national-good-579635/
Our first lady unveiled her plan at a recent U.S. Conference of Mayors, asking for their help in attacking a dire issue facing our country. Not only is 50% of our general population expected to be obese in 10 years, but childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years.
Tripled. Meaning, like, tremendously super-sized itself. That's huge.
Our own Oklahoma City mayor, Mick Cornett, was singled out at the conference, for creating a website urging citizens to lose a million pounds, and then losing 40 of those pounds himself.
Another mayor was praised for building walkways, bicycle paths, anything to encourage children to be more active.
Our first lady, however, made a dire mistake when interviewed about her initiative. She said her family pediatrician raised concerns about her daughters' food choices and weight, and Obama used the word "diet" when describing the changes she made to ensure her daughters did not join 1/3 of the population's children who suffer from diabetes. Diet has such a negative connotation tied to it, but believe it or not, some of us live on a "diet". It's simply how we eat. It's our lifestyle. We enjoy it.
The horror. How dare this woman be concerned about the physical and emotional impact of her daughters being overweight, and how DARE her make healthier food choices for her family.
Children are being beaten, molested and neglected all over the United States, but critics and parents want to get up in arms over Michelle Obama's concern for her children's well-being?
When are we going to start holding parents accoutable for overfeeding their children and contributing to their health problems? Is that considered abuse?
What on EARTH is this world coming to?
I'll give you my very unpopular opinion on why people are so upset...
Because many people in our society don't WANT to make better food choices, they don't WANT to exercise, and it takes a heck of a lot of WORK to make our children healthier. Michelle Obama bringing this to light creates a lot more work for people and parents.
There are some legitimate concerns here.
"Obama bringing her daughters' weight into the public eye at such a tender age sets the stage for an eating disorder, and brings unneeded attention to them"
Valid. I'm not an eating disorder expert, but I have studied addiction enough to know it's usually a result of some serious emotional issues, and not because a mother decides to make healthier food choices for her kid.
And when SHOULD their weight be an issue for parents to notice? When they are in middle school, overweight, and being made fun of every day? Crying themselves to sleep because they don't fit in, kids are cruel, they can't keep up in gym class? When the doctor diagnoses them with diabetes at 16, or they are on blood pressure medication in high school? When as a grown woman they struggle constantly with their weight and have no tools to manage it because it was a free for all growing up?
Do I need to list the negatives of letting your child become overweight versus the negatives of making some healthy changes and talking to your child so they don't become overweight?
I love it when people make fun of me for my healthy food and lifestyle choices. I love it even more when they act as though I'm depriving my children because our house is virtually sugar free.
I talk to my girls about being healthy. They know which foods are bad for your body and which ones help you. They know it's dangerous to get too big. They also know, however, that it's never okay to call someone fat, or use the word fat, and they also know our physical appearance isn't the most important thing in this life.
I will never let them get overweight. Part of job as a parent is helping them be as emotionally and physically strong as I have become since I got in the best shape of my life. I want them to have that feeling their entire life. I want them to enter adulthood with nutritional knowledge and a love of being active so they never struggle the way most women do constantly obsessing about their weight. Or worse, dying at an early age because believe me, complications from obesity; lack of physical activity; and bad nutrition kills more people than anything else.
A strong body leads to a strong mind, and that ain't no joke folks.
Shame on the parents and critics who overanalyzed Michelle Obama's positive lifestyle changes and turned them into a negative simply because she didn't use the proper verbage. When are we going to start focusing our energy someplace useful?
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2 comments:
You hit the nail in the head when you said that some parents just don't WANT to make those changes b/c it creates more work for them and also it makes them accountable for their own food choices. People are always looking for someone to attack though...
Ok here's the problem that critic are using to drive their argument but not actually acknowledging. Parents who don't WANT to make health choices, and don't WANT to exercise with their kids are the first ones to hear the President's wife talk about her concerns with her children, twist them and call their moderately over weight child a "fatass." They use statements made like 1/3 of the youth in America are obese, to belittle and verbally abuse their children. They are too lazy to do anything about it but they are also the first ones to use the knowledge negatively.
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