{"id":331,"date":"2019-01-31T07:53:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T07:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp\/?p=331"},"modified":"2019-01-31T07:53:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T07:53:22","slug":"childhood-obesity-billboards-do-they-help-or-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisajohnsonfitness.com\/childhood-obesity-billboards-do-they-help-or-harm\/","title":{"rendered":"Childhood Obesity Billboards: Do They Help or Harm?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
I\u2019ve been watching this go by in the stream for a couple of weeks now. Stark black-and-white photographs of \u201cfat kids\u201d with polarizing one liners talking about diabetes and bullying. I write frequently about childhood obesity here and I\u2019m a strong advocate of working with families to help decrease the rates in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Fat kids face real issues: increased bullying, lower sense of self-esteem, and very real medical issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and shortened life spans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does a billboard with a picture of a fat kid (okay, I hate typing that phrase and I never use it, but it seems to be the vernacular for this discussion) exploit the child and increase bullying? Or does it open up discussion and raise awareness and maybe really help some kids?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I honestly don\u2019t know, so I asked my almost 10-year-old, showing him the health initiative\u2019s main site, Strong 4 Life<\/a>. I pointed to the picture of Bobby and said, \u201cWhat do you see?\u201d He answered, \u201cA fat kid.\u201d I said would you tease him? He said, \u201cYes, he looks teasable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hung my head in parental shame, but I kept prodding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: Does he look happy to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: No, he looks sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: Why do you think he\u2019s sad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: Because he\u2019s heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: So would you tease him because you know he\u2019s sad because of his weight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: No, that would be mean. (Score one point for parental intervention!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: Do you have heavy kids in school?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: Do they get teased because they\u2019re fat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: No, the teachers wouldn\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me: So do you think this billboard is helpful or hurtful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son: I think it helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My son then said we could tell the kids in Georgia to move up to our school system so they wouldn\u2019t feel sad. We also watched the 15 and 30-second videos on the site that feature these kids. My son realized how painful it can be to be overweight and struggling with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So back to the original question: does this campaign help or hurt kids? In this little corner of a Boston suburb, it helped. I was able to show my son why teasing based on how someone looks is bad and he understood and now knows it\u2019s not okay to do that. I also have to preface that he is in a public school with a very low-rate of obesity. In my son\u2019s grade there is literally one kid out of about 90 with a weight problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our school system also has an incredibly strong anti-bullying stance. My son was unfortunately the target of bullies and I was amazed at how quickly everything was handled. After a playground attack, I was standing at the principal\u2019s office the next day and people were taking action within minutes. The kids who bullied my son were immediately addressed (as were their parents) and anti-bullying curriculum was brought into the classroom. It was pretty impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s another side to this, however. Not everyone has anti-bullying campaigns in their school. Not everyone has parents who know they can intervene on behalf of their kids. Do I believe some kids have taken this exposure of the obesity problem as an opportunity for bullying? Sadly, yes, I\u2019m sure that\u2019s happened. I\u2019m sure the kids on the billboards have caught some flack and their parents too for \u201cabusing\u201d them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n