“Will someone please think of the fat children?”
Associated Press – July 12, 2007:
Overweight children are stigmatized by their peers as early as age 3 and even face bias from their parents and teachers, giving them a quality of life comparable to people with cancer, a new analysis concludes.
Youngsters who report teasing, rejection, bullying and other types of abuse because of their weight are two to three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts as well as to suffer from other health issues such as high blood pressure and eating disorders, researchers said.
Its too bad for a number of reasons that our Kiddies don’t have a full program of phyical exercising and sports at school–extra curricular and otherwise what with the facilities all sitting there going to waste, while the kiddies get fat.
Parents too.
Why is it a bad thing that fat kids are being made fun of? Thats how socialization works. If your behavior is seen as positive in society’s eyes, you are rewarded or at least not punished. If your behavior is seen as negative, you are punished. Over eating is a behavior. Most of the time, it’s learned. If you want this country to be one giant fat stomach, tell the kids it’s ok to be fat. If you want your country to be fit and efficient, tell every single one of those kids to STOP EATING!!!.
I’m being over dramatic of course, but I think this article is too.
2. “If your behavior is seen as positive in society’s eyes, you are rewarded or at least not punished. If your behavior is seen as negative, you are punished.”
So what about smart kids, should they be punished by their peers too?
Well, maybe a little less Wii, PS3, and Xbox (plus parents smashing in the screen of the TV set) would make life a little more pleasant for these kids. When I grew up (fifties) there was one fat kid in the school. He had some kind of endocrine disorder, and nobody made fun of him. I’m not sure “a whopping desire for a supersized bacon burger and a weekend of Halo2” qualifies as an endocrine disorder. But maybe I’m wrong.
#3 – Great point…
It is a shame that intelligence is perceived as a negative.
But one day…
Yes, one day…
I’ll get my revenge on them all…
Bwahahahahahaha
5. “It is a shame that intelligence is perceived as a negative.”
It’s not a negative, and that’s my point. Kids do not pick on other kids to socialize them. That’s our rationalization for it so we don’t have to intervene and actually parent our kids.
Kids pick on other kids for on reason: They’re different. They’re a different race, they’re a different nationality, they listen to different music, they practice a different religion, they’re really smart, they’re really good at something… and on and on and on…
I don’t exactly know what age xenophobia sets in, but really young kids don’t have it.
Any group of children will pick the one(s) that are different and torment them. Fat kids, red headed kids, skinny, tall or short, it makes no difference. God help the disabled ones. It’s thinning the heard, all pack animals do it. Weed out the defective genes. We are animals, and share a great deal of genetic material with the rest of the fauna. We are not the end product of evolution, just a thin branch.
6–You got a few points wrong there. #5 is correct in stating it is the “perception” of intelligence being a negative that draws taunts from the kiddies.
Socialization in schools is not about kiddies taunting one another, it is about teaching them NOT to taunt for these differences. But yes, too many parents not involved enough—or are they and they teach their kiddies these intolerant views?? Probably a mix–apathy and malignancy.
7–Thin branch indeed. One we saw on all the time.
8. ““perception” of intelligence being a negative that draws taunts from the kiddies.”
Ok, I’m curious, how (or maybe why) do kids perceive intelligence as being a negative?
And while you’re at it, what is negative about having red hair? And what is negative about liking a different form of music? And what’s negative about wearing different clothes?
I think 7 has it right. If healthy group has X characteristic, it would make sense from a genetic standpoint to avoid any other characteristic, because it might be negative. Thus, red hair becomes a negative solely because it is different. This isn’t a rational thought process. It is xenophobia. It’s an innate and irrational thought process that has kept us alive for millions of years. But that does not make it OK.
Following up with my comments in 6 and 9, I’m guessing the reason very young children are not xenophobic is because they are utterly dependent on others. Thus, for their survival they cannot be choosy. Anyone who is around might be able to help, so they have to love everyone. (Except Aunt Bertha, because she smells like coffee and cigars.)
9—You understand it all. Whats the question? The rationality of the little Kiddies?
I guess you are turning on the word “negtive.” More intelligent and red hair are different. Kiddies taunt such people. That taunting arising from what is said to be a percieved negative. You want to say they are taunting only because they see a difference?
Ok, but if the difference was seen as a positive, they would emulate it or worship it, but they don’t. They tease and attack it, therefore the thought is the difference is seen as a negative.
BTW–it was this taunting of differences that made me turn away from my peer group at a very early age. and I fit right in except I thought the retards shouldn’t be made fun of. Never outgrew it, still posting.
And if you thought being fat was tough, imagine being fat AND part of a minority. Even worse, try being that AND live in a latinamerican country.
That’s why everytime I see some hispanics bitching about them being treated like shit in the USA I just snicker.
11. “Ok, but if the difference was seen as a positive…”
The kid will still be taunted. There is no doubt that highly mentally gifted students will go on to make great money. And there can be no doubt that it’s an advantage to make great money. But yet, smart kids are harassed.
Sports are praised because those kids are collected into groups with kids of similar skills who are then pitted against other kids. But if there was a kid with really good skills, well above his peers, he’d be teased. “Gee retard, why do you try so hard during practice? You like kissing the coach’s ass?!” “Gee asshole, why are you making the rest of us look bad out there?!” Get my point?
13–No, I don’t get your point. We agree on everything, and you post correctly but seem to be disagreeing about something you are not SPECIFICALLY identifying.
Seems to center on the meaning of “percieved” and what “if” means. But, since we basically agree that Kiddies are little asocial bastards that need to be socialized in our institutions, and that smart people should make lots of money, and that Jocks are Jerks, I’m a happy camper.
Fat kids have fat mothers. That’s the observation I’ve seen at playgrounds, amusement parks and beaches. Now, I don’t tease fat mothers but they are definitely not MILFs.
#13 – There is no doubt that highly mentally gifted students will go on to make great money.
Really? Where’s my money?
15 – a few beers should get you over deciding whether they are MILF’s or not. There were a few at the beach that I tried to drag back in the water however.
No where is being picked on for being different anymore prevalent then this blog. Like school children the regulars here will look down on anyone that may be fat, may practice a religion, belong to a opposing political party, use a Mac, want a iphone, like american made products, stand in lines, go to McDonnell’s, live in the south, make less money them them, make more money then them, shop at Walmart.
Enough of the flashing crap. Now that’s annoying.
Fat kids are fat because their parents are slobs.
Fat mom + fat dad = fat kid.
Bush has a plan to fight this phenomena. It is called food price inflation. Just like his global warming plan. If they make gas cost to much, you won’t drive to the store where the food is priced out of you wallet anyway because the transportation cost getting it to the store is now seventy five percent of it’s price..
A thinner healthier America.. Go Dumbya.
#17 – Two posts trying to prove your intelligence? Wow, I really have destroyed you after all.
#21, Jamie Hill
#17 – Two posts trying to prove your intelligence? Wow, I really have destroyed you after all.
Comment by James Hill — 7/13/2007 @ 7:22 am
Geeze, it’s hell to be left out of the conversation, isn’t it.
#4, MM,
I understand your point about kids being fat today. I can’t prove it but I have a strong suspicion that today’s obesity epidemic has more to do with our diets then we know. I’m not necessarily talking about that double burger with large fries and diet coke. I do think there might be some ingredient or a combination of ingredients that are causing this epidemic.
I too grew up in the ’50s. The fattest kid in our school would have been normal today. Yet since then:
We have have near universal immunizations.
Corn sweeteners have largely replaced sugar.
Trans fats are used in most prepared foods.
Margarine has largely replaced butter.
Beef and pork are raised with much higher fat content.
Sodium intake is much higher.
Candy and snack consumption has soared.
Artificial preservatives have soared in use for all types of prepared food.
(add your own food change)
And of course TVs, video games, and the like.
If society continues to blame the obese for what might very well be a medical or nutritional problem, the cause, and hence cure, might never be found.
#24 – You are right… The “Kids are fat because mom is a a fat stupid whore” explanation is bullshit and defies clearly understood facts about the nature of industrial food production and what these foods are doing to us.
Want to know why kids are getting fatter and fatter? Just watch all the TV commercials aimed straight at kids that advertise food that is horrible for you.
#25
AND.. Fat moms with shitty fat eating habits pass them onto their kids. If it weren’t for me babysitting my nephew he would have become the usual kid who considers a slice of bread as a vegetable serving.
#24 and 25 – I agree. High fructose corn syrup is known to supress satiety. Processed foods are stripped of nutrients leaving our bodies craving more food. The standard American breakfast (cereal, white toast w/margarine, and OJ) promotes chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease. One thousand new chemicals are added to our “diet” yearly. If you can’t pronounce the ingredients in your food, should you be eating it?
We are also exposed to man-made toxins every day. One hundred thousand man-made chemicals exist in our environment. These chemicals react and wreak havoc on our endocrine system.
#27 – Well… You aren’t wrong…
I grew up in the 70s when it all started to go bad… My mother fed me as she had been taught. She didn’t know the rules had changed.
But we’ve allowed (whether its good or bad is another debate) a society where kids are left to their own devices and where marketing permeates our every minute and where what we buy as food is manufactured more than grown… Not only do parents teach these habits, so do multi-million dollar multi-national conglomerates armed with Harvard grad industrial psychologists leading marketing efforts designed to support the bad teachings of ill-educated parents and to subvert the positive teachings of very knowledgable and proactive parents.
There is a war between people and business, not unlike a conflict between a kitten and Optimus Prime, for our health… and we are very likely gonna loose.
Corporate America: They’re Not In It For Our Health
You can tell if a kid is going to be overweight with 75% accuracy at six months of age by looking at his weight and the weight of his parents.
A child being obese probably has more to do with brown versus white fat content than discipline. The more brown fat you have as a kid, the less white fat you need. People forget that the purpose of fat is first to preserve body temperature and second to store energy. Brown fat is much more effecient than white fat in generating heat.
But still, we have the usual moronic comments like, “If your behavior is seen as negative, you are punished. Over eating is a behavior. Most of the time, it’s learned.” You think you can alter behavior in kids, have at it.
Right, brown fat, neuropeptide Y, ghrelin, leptin, endorphins, cortisol, thyroid, progesterone, oxytocin, cholecystokinin, vasopressin, insulin, growth hormone, IGF, ACTH, TRH, TSH, dopamine, and serotonin have nothing to do with obesity. It is purely will power.
And we all “know” that diet and exercise are the keys to weight loss? Well, not me, I read diets don’t work 15 years ago, and there are more studies backing up that claim.This one got some air time. http://tinyurl.com/3acj86.
” “We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority.”
Obesity is 1/3 genetic, 1/3 lifestyle, and 1/3 chemical, and the only ways that have been shown to keep weight off in the long term are chemical. Stomach surgery is chemical in nature (it lowers Ghrelin levels); wiring one’s mouth shut does not affect body chemistry and is not effective. Treating lifestyle has been shown to be more harmful than good.
So if kids want to make fun of others for being fat, have at it. But it is the equivalent of making fun of a kid with a big nose or dark skin, other conditions kids are born with. There is no difference between making fun of a fat kid and calling a black kid “a nigger”.
I liked being a fat kid. When other kids teased me about it, I outweighed them, and beat the crap out of them. So, they ended up being teased by everybody else as ‘the kid that got beat up by fatty’… 🙂
#31, pretty good post.
I disagree with your last sentence though. That “nigger” is much more likely to chase your fat white ass down the street and kick it severely. And maybe some other body parts as well.