Weekly Parent News Round-up

There weren't as many interesting items this week. One worth noting is another study linking child abuse (specifically shaken baby syndrome) to recession. In times of stress we need to be extra careful how we treat our kids.

The other standout to me this week was about obese 8 and 9-year-olds suffering from emotional and social problems. I don't think this is really news, but I get the impression it is a lot more so than it used to be. The definition of obesity is stricter than it used to be (did you know the numbers were randomly changed back in the 90's with nothing to back those numbers up?), and the stigma on "fat" is growing. Some other things I read this week have made me wonder whether this war on obesity is actually hurting the people it is supposedly intended to help. We are all being trained to see Americans=fat=bad lifestyle choices, even when we know at the same time that that's not always the case. In fact, I am starting to wonder how often that is the case. Here is an article about how media spin is affecting our view on these things. Even doctors are affected by this mob mentality, and, as a result, people with unexplained weight gain problems or other health difficulties have trouble getting a proper diagnosis, because all the doctor sees is, "You need to go on a diet." (If you read the article and the comments, you will see that underlying medical problems can cause major weight gain in people with healthy lifestyles, but they are left with no help for their problems due to the difficulty of finding a doctor who will do anything besides recommend diet and exercise.) It seems to me that if we want a healthier America, this is exactly the wrong way to go about it.

I was trying to understand the concept of "doublethink" from the book 1984, and now I think I get it. The media does such a good job of feeding us these ideas that it really is not hard to know one thing but still find yourself thinking something else. I know size is not really an indicator of health or lifestyle, yet I still find myself making judgements about people who are bigger than me.