Overweight Children
Good day, Henry here. On my walk this morning a couple of things came to mind. At the top of the street I saw a young woman desperately brushing out her hair. It looked like she was rushing, behind schedule. Then a boy galloped out of her house and clumped down the street. He couldn’t do anything else. He was at least 50-60 pounds overweight.
While he was still galloping, the girl I had seen before also came rushing from the house. She too was 50 – 60 pounds overweight, perhaps 170 pounds, and had to hang on to her pants to keep them from falling.
About then I realized that both of them were rushing to catch up to three girls down the street who were going to school together. Clearly the fat girl wanted to join them, but in her rush did not have her school books. I really don’t know what they discussed, but I got the impression that she was asking them to wait for her to return with her schoolwork.
Before I caught up to the group she rushed off back to her house. I caught up to the three and they looked to be in great shape.
I passed the girls but stayed close to them to overhear what was being said about their relationship with the fat girl. To the best of my knowledge they said nothing about her, but walked slowly on towards school. I couldn’t tell if by moving on they were refusing her request to wait for her or just tasking their time knowing she would catch up.
What a burden we place on children, and most especially females about their weight. Society traps children into failing in the weight department, while industry entices them with sugar treats, and parents often fail to give proper guidance.
Looking at those three beautiful creatures I thought again what a terrible burden it is for a child to be fat. My heart goes out to her and the burdens she has to bear. What a mass of insecurities seemed to be part of the fat one’s life. She stood out from her classmates like a sore thumb. She needs help slimming down, but if her brother is an example of the household, then she won’t get it. Because of society’s unfair expectations, I expect she’ll have to work much harder just to feel normal.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Hi guys(Henry/Steve); I agree with your sentiments and we definitely need trained and dedicated school therapists (not just guidance counsellors) to address these concerns with the children and their parents about the childs physical, psycological and possibly neurological health issues. I believe this will be a niche job in the near future as locallized therapists will be able to case manage and coach individuals to a healthy and better living. You are so right in that obesity is becoming the norm here in North America, but how do we engage children in having active fun… maybe Wii* is a start. It’s starting to have an affect with our Seniors who enjoy the Wii’s video bowling software at the nursing homes social parties.