I arrived back from the gym tonight, and as I got to the front door something caught the corner of my eye and I looked across to the park over the road. All the swings were moving, and there was a girl standing there alone, pushing each of them. She looked to be between ten and twelve years of age and I felt sorry for her.
Not because she was alone.
Because she was very overweight.
Feeling sorry for someone might not be appropriate and it doesn't help them, but I also couldn't help feeling it. That is the things with feelings - we feel them before we have a chance to analyze them, whether we like it or not.
Now, I have no crystal ball to know what caused her to be overweight, nor can I know for sure what her experience through life is going to be. Yet, I can imagine that at least in the short term, it is likely that she is going to have some challenges, and that most likely, her current condition isn't her fault. Nor is it likely that she has some rare medical condition that causes it.
And I find it sad.
I get that we are all meant to be accepting of everybody and not be judgmental, but there is a reality to being severely overweight that should be considered also. Especially for a child. I see these kids with legs splaying out under the pressure of their own weight, as they are still growing, never having the chance for their bones to form correctly. If a person were born with scoliosis and a crooked spine, we would consider it an abnormal curvature. But when it is inflicted by body weight from overeating, it is acceptable.
It makes no sense.
Of course, there is nothing I can really do about the what society or culture finds acceptable, and what kinds of harms can can be justified. Yet, it does seem hypocritical to admonish cultures that do terrible things like bind the feet of young girls to keep them small, and then not look in the mirror and see the similarities and what the future impacts might be of our own actions.
Should nothing be done?
Take out all the potential for teasing and social prejudices, just looking at the physical implications of a child being overweight and then maturing into an overweight adult, is it the kind of outcome that we want. Would we want it for ourselves? If we could go back to childhood and eat poorly, get fat and carry that weight into adulthood, how many would do that?
I get it - it isn't my business.
But is that really the case? If I saw a man beating a woman in the street and I said, "that isn't my business", would that be socially acceptable too. Just shrug my shoulders, have a flash of though about how violent and degraded the world has become, and move on about my business.
The problem is, that obesity is so prevalent and so many people find it so hard to lose weight, that they see it as an impossible problem, something they just have to accept in themselves. And that means, that when someone mentions weight, it becomes a personal attack on something they feel that they can't change.
A few days ago, Britain's heaviest man died of organ failure a few days before his 34th birthday. He weighed around 317 kilograms (~700 lb) and from what I read, he was hoping to be prescribed Wegovy, the weightloss medication that a lot of the celebrities are pounding by the fist full.
Holton reportedly began overeating as a teen while grieving his father’s death and went on to consume 10,000 calories a day, which included eating doner kebabs for breakfast.
Sad, isn't it?
While his story is an extreme, it isn't unfamiliar to a lot of people in the world who for one reason or another, start to consume and consume to the point that they can no longer stop. It becomes a habit, a crutch, a comfort activity and it can lead to self-loathing which spirals back into consuming more, and more.
We are all potential addicts of something.
Or multiple things.
Being overweight isn't the largest issue facing society, but perhaps it is indicative of society in general, where we keep finding ways to excuse illnesses and degradation of health in general. Physical health, mental health, social health, financial health - it all seems to be in decline for the majority of us, yet we keep behaving as if this decline is natural, that we should accept the slide, rather than do something about it.
I don't know what to do about it.
Education in knowledge doesn't work alone, so it has to be followed up by application of knowledge. Yet, this is where we seem to increasingly fall down, because we aren't willing to make changes in ourselves, let alone in the way we organize our communities. We don't organize for health, we structure for wealth. And while people are told to mind their own business when it comes to social issues like obesity, everyone complains about how they are financially struggling, without seeing that the two things are connected.
It is all connected.
Which is perhaps why that little girl in the park makes me sad, because she isn't alone. She is likely going to grow into a world where she is normal, and while that sounds great, normal isn't going to mean healthy. She might struggle to walk a flight of stairs, but so might many of her friends, and they will create strategies to avoid being in discomfort. They will build more tools, take more medication, move less, numb themselves further.
Maybe that will be considered a good life.
An evolved life.
The swings in the park will be empty.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Ah, people are doing so much to try and combat this problem. Education and application don't help a ton when a lot of information about the healthiness of a food is not available or hard to find.
Groups are petitioning for clearing food information labels and to potentially regulate ingredients in ultra-processed food. Sugar is so immensely addictive, and it's found it way more foods than any of us would realize, and corporations lobby to influence policy so they can include unhealthy ingredients... all meaning that even people who think they're eating healthily might not be.
Of course, it is entirely possible that people classified as overweight are perfectly healthy, or have genetics or health issues that make it extremely difficult to regulate weight. I think you'd be surprised with how common medical conditions can be that make it difficult to regulate weight. There's almost always far more nuance to the story.
Use ChatGPT, that will give some decent guidelines on what health eating is. It isn't that hard. A parent could even use it to find strategies on how to for instance get children to eat vegetables.
btw, number one on the list when I prompted a moment ago was,
If it is illness or genetic factors that are making toddler to pre-teen children obese, then we really need to have a look into what is causing it, right? Perhaps it is partly due to over medication also, where "safe" medications are tested in a vacuum, as if all those chemicals will interact with nothing else in the body, environment, or with other chemicals.'
I don't blame the child. But I suspect that if your child was obese, you would do the research and find the information needed to help them. Is it so hard to find?
I'm not sure I agree that it's that easy to find.
There is so much misinformation and conflicting information out there. The Healthy Eating Food Pyramid, for example, suggests eating red meat sparingly and whole grains regularly...but keto diets reverse that. Which is correct?
I think, honestly, it's way harder than we think. Keto might work really well for you, but not for your brother... or, genetics and location might also play a huge factor; a Mediterranean diet might be amazing for someone with Greek heritage but be so harmful to someone with Indian genetics.
Add on top of that is that corporations aren't always honest about the ingredients in their products, I mean, it's often hard to even know what all the names in the ingredient list even are.
On top of all that, people's diets need to change as they age, foods will affect you differently, I'm sure you can't eat the same things now in the same quantities as you did as a teenager, and I'm sure other things are different, so parents and children might not actually need the same diet.
Additionally, there are a ton of medications that affect how much weight people carry, the young girl you're talking about might be on medication that prevents weight regulation.
Finally, people's bodies are different. I have friends that have always eaten less than me, and exercised more, and their body just holds more weight. A lifetime of working on their weight hasn't heralded any results... and maybe its a matter of finding the exact right diet, or maybe that's just how their body is.
The point I'm trying to make is... no, it's not that simple, and I don't think you can really know all the nuances and circumstances affecting someone's weight. They might not even know, and not because they haven't tried.
I haven't forgotten this. I will get back to the comments here - travelling and on the phone sucks for me
👍
I think that for the vast majority of people though, it is pretty easy - an averagely good diet will be good enough. And then, once there is some experience and perhaps some desire, they are able to refine it to their own personal needs. The specialized diets are where it is more personalized on both individual scope, but also requirements.
Most people are not elite athletes, so they don't need to get to 6% bodyfat, or maximize certain types of muscle fibers or something like that. A decent diet isn't hard to know or even apply - it is only when one cares about creating the perfect diet that it really gets hard. For the majority of people that are overweight though, a basic diet is a fine place to start, and that is a simple google search away at most.
When it comes to the personalized nuances, a basic diet is still the place to start, isn't it? Then there is a base to explore from.
Thanks for reminding me that I'm getting fat.
I need to lose some weight. Been doing waaaaaaay too much convenience eating secondary to an extremely busy schedule.
At least the little girl was out at the park. That's a start to shedding a little weight. There are a lot of factors that can cause weight gain, but we can be sure of the adverse health effects.
It is a core part of the service.
It is this targeted avoidance that annoys me. There might be some who are outliers and have little adverse effects, but the vast majority will. Pretending kids will grow up okay, is ridiculous.
It is quite sad...the only way for that child to participate was to be the beast of burden. Not only sad, but it angers me as well. Sometimes I think the best thing for society is to revert back to pre industrial days. That would bring about a whole different list of ills for modern humans but at least kids wouldn't be needing media babysitters and eating fast food with no nutritional value.
preindustrial would definitely see us change our behaviors, as not only would we be more active, we would also be producing things that were of use. Not like now, where the majority of what companies create and where most of the wealth is made, is in the useless.
People have to care though and most of them don't. They are either too wrapped up in their own world or they are looking for the easy way through. If the parents were out being active with the girl then it would probably be more likely she would build on that habit. It's easier to have the TV or video games entertain them.
If you were to imagine the parents, what shape would you expect them to be in?
It's hard to say, they could be in great shape, but just more interested in their own lives than their kids or in taking the easy way out. Is it easier to fight with my kid for two hours over what they drink or just letting them drink the two liter of Mt. Dew? Plus, some people are just blessed with good metabolism.
Outside of illnesses, I usually blame the parents for problems with their children, especially younger ones. I would assume that they let the child eat a lot of sweets and junk food.
I blame the parents too. But then, what if they were raised to have unhealthy relationships with food and exercise too? Granted, if a person becomes a parent, they should at least try to overcome their own vices.
It's always "fine" if it's "you" XD
That's probably everyone's problem which is why it's easier pretending that "well we can't do anything so may as well just accept it".
Probably. But at least, everyone could discuss it and see what could be done, rather than trying to justify doing nothing.
I can get people to the state of discussing what could be done and I like pretending that seeds planted at least but that's where I usually get the "oh well we can't do anything about it anyway".
Even after a discussion has progressed enough where you can almost see the cogs turning when they realise they could and should affect a couple of lifestyle changes to get where they want to go.
I remember the plot of a cartoon. People are on a spaceship, snuggled up in the comforts brought by technology, so fat they don't move but are carried by robots in chairs...
The advantage of new technological advances? I wouldn't say it's good for us, humanity.
Unless that girl on the swings has some physical, hormonal disorder, which led to so much weight gain, it is absolutely the parents' fault for allowing her to look like that. It is probably easier for parents to leave their child to fast food, so that they have more time either for work or for their pleasure (whatever it is). And the children, let them eat hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and ice cream... And let them destroy their health.
A child should be inculcated from an early age with the desire to play, to spend time in nature, when he will have the opportunity to spend his excess energy. Not leave the child to virtual reality, playing from an armchair, without spending time in nature.
When a man was well-built in his youth and when he was taught to burn excess calories through play, when he reaches some mature years and when he gains weight, he knows that he needs to lose weight, so he throws himself into physical activity (like you, because coming back from the gym) or looking for the help of a nutritionist (like me, who has a relative who is a nutritionist, so I often get advice). Don't give up like that unfortunate man who died at the age of 34...
This argument is handled in an animated film entitled Wall-E (2008).
I thought it was Wall-E, but I wasn't sure. Thanks 🙂
The funny thing is, if you are the slightest mention of it, you are said to be body shaming. Our body image is what we have over 70 percent control over. But we have become reticent to do what is necessary.
Body shaming. Parent shaming.
Do people feel no shame at their own behavior?
In third world Latin countries, they interpret “fat” as a well-fed person and if it is “obesity”, they consider it sick, outside the stereotype imposed by fashion and cosmetology companies. I know girls who were very thin before they were twelve, but after puberty they ballooned up like balloons. And I also know of cases in reverse.
We cannot judge either of the two extremes. Nor can we do anything about it beyond our own families.
I think doing something within the family, does something outside of the family. This is how culture works.
Puberty is one aspect of it, but that is also timed these days when kids are able to go out and shop for themselves. However, this girl was obese and in no stretch of the imagination would it be considered healthy.
Let's admit two things for a moment: 1) she feels well physically and mentally, 2) the little one's pituitary gland does what is necessary to maintain balance.
Happiness is what counts. It is possible that in a few years, if she has the chance to see the girl again, she will have grown into a beautiful young woman.
Nature is wise and without realising it, it balances the variables...
It is highly unlikely unfortunately. More likely, is that she will have diabetes and be on insulin for the rest of her life.
@tarazkp here mentions a 10 to 12 year-old girl. it is not a chubby 3 or 4 year-old child who will grow into a handsome teenager.
I have several friends who were overweight as teenagers, believe me, today they are all still overweight. Even others who were not overweight in their youth succumbed to the influence of unhealthy cuisine and gained weight. Those who manage to stay in top shape through physical activities are rare.
I read this post and felt a big lump in my throat Mr Taraz, hopefully that obese girl will get help to treat her self-esteem so that she will be a healthy adult, it really is about mental and physical health. Society always judges, the issue is to seek to improve the quality of life for everyone regardless of size, height, or anything.
It is possible that the girl has insulin resistance, hence her overweight, plus the anxiety she has from the amount of things that are said to her for being like that.
The little prince says in his book "I see humans, but I don't see humanity".
Feeling sorry for someone is normal but when you try to approach the people going through the problem, you may not like their response and it’s gonna make you feel like you gotta leave them alone and let them go through their issue by themselves. Some people can be that rude…
At the same time, it isn’t very good for a little child to be overweight. It will affect her when she grows up. It’s funny how overweight people are the ones who usually love to take so much sweet things even when they know that it isn’t good for them
I agree.😊
I stand on a quote,If you have a child or you want a newborn, you need to give that newborn your absolute attention and care. This shows the parents lack of care.
You know, in the veterinary there are often posters of overweight dogs, and how it is animal abuse to overfeed them. I wonder why we don't consider overfeeding kids child abuse. It should be.