Health

Do Ads Using Obese Kids to Scare Parents Go Too Far?

Georgia Child Obesity Ads Garner Criticism“Mom, why am I fat?”

That’s the grabbing question included in one new child obesity ad in Georgia. The ads are aimed at parents with overweight children. Considering nearly 40 percent of Georgia children are overweight or obese and that some are developing hypertension, the group Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta chose the ads (part of the Strong4Life campaign) to grab parents’ attention. But now the attention is turning into criticism from some.

“Blaming the victim rarely helps,” Dr. Miriam Labbok told ABC News. “These children know they are fat and that they are ostracized already.”

“While guilt and fear are motivators, they have to be meted out with the answer to the situation,” she added. “The ads with the children do not offer help to them.”

But Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta responded that it was time for something more.

“We needed something that was more arresting and in your face than some of the flowery campaigns out there,” Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told ABC.

“If we do not wake up, this will be disastrous for our state,” she added. “We are hearing parents say that it’s time we do something about it.”

You can watch ABC’s report below:

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Comments (62)

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  • AJAYW
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:20am

    If people don’t get on board and stop the use of growth hormones in out food sources this will not get better. Their in about everything kids eat.
    Kids weren’t like this before the use of them in livestock and plants. Yes a few had weight problems but nothing like now.

    Report Post »  
    • jhl1769
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 2:39pm

      That’s simply not true. I am about as big a carnivore as a human being can get and at 42 I still have a 32 inch waist. It’s simply not enough exercise and to many carbs.

      Report Post »  
    • DocW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 2:43pm

      Growth Hormones are not the problem with childhood obesity. Parents are. I cant speak for all but every overweight/obese child I knew was large from an early age. Babies cannot feed themselves. They depend on adults to put the food in front of them. Dont turn the blame game on and blame the farmer.

      Report Post »  
    • deeberj
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 4:01pm

      Children are fat because they don’t go outside to play all the time anymore. They sit and do all the things that keep them not exercising (internet surfing, video games, tv – and snacking while they do them). When I was a kid we were out playing running around most of the time. Even in the winter when it was cold and the summer when it was hot. We survived.

      Adults are fat because our jobs are not as much labor as they used to be and are more sedentary. People don’t walk as much as they used to, we use cars and public transportation to run errands etc. Most people would not dream of walking a mile to the store, but when I was a kid a lot of people did that.

      So if we would all eat less junk and exercise more we’d not all be obese. It’s been the truth about weight loss since the beginning. There’s no secret. Just eat less and exercise more.

      Report Post » deeberj  
    • NOBAMA201258
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 4:19pm

      Video games are the main reason kids don’t get enough exercise,we were always playing sports and I ate whatever I wanted and never had a problem,video games are an electronic babysitter for too many busy parents

      Report Post »  
    • AJAYW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 5:25pm

      @jhl1769
      As you said your 42 not in your youth growing as kids are. You check it out most feed lots will not put live stock in the lot without the inplant account the normal growth rate is so slow,t and the cost of feeding them out is so much more… Been there and done it. They aslways told us it will not carry over in the meat, I quit account I think it does. Look at how young girls and boys are developing now days..

      Report Post »  
    • PhoenixFire21
      Posted on January 4, 2012 at 12:20pm

      Well look at the amount of exercise a human being would get and the scarcity of food several hundred years ago versus that of a human being today. Hunter-gatherers had to physically track, stalk and kill their prey. This is all exercise. Today we have the convenience of driving to the McDonald’s drive-thru window. Virtually no exercise required. We have access to vast amounts of prepackaged/prepared foods and have to do very little work to attain them.

      People used to eat three square meals a day (Vs. today, with “fourthmeal” or all day snacking). A lot of jobs were physical labor (vs. a sedentary desk job) and children played tag outside instead of playing video games. (Unfortunately you can‘t have your kid play tag anymore out of fear of another kid’s parents suing for tagging too hard or something ridiculous)…

      If kids don’t want to be fat they should stop eating so much. Parents don’t force their children to down boxes of Ho Hos at gunpoint. I mean, even if there‘s a limited selection of healthy food options it doesn’t mean that you have to overindulge in the unhealthy ones. I had a weight problem for the majority of my childhood because I chose to eat too much junk food and not exercise. As much as my parents did little to remedy this, it wasn’t their fault, and I can now proudly look back and say that I have lost 60 lbs of overindulgence completely on my own. No Atkins, South Beach, or mommy and daddy necessary. All it took was my own independent willpo

      Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:46am

    “Mommy…why am I so fat?”
    answer:
    “Mommy is busy right now. Go sit in front of the TV with that bag of Big Macs I bought you”.

    Report Post »  
    • AJAYW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:22am

      thegreatcarnac
      Its not the big Mac its whats was inserted into the cow to make it grow faster.

      Report Post »  
    • Latter-Day-Soldier
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 7:30pm

      @AJAYW:
      Couple your statement with Thegreatcarnac’s post along with no exercise/activity, doing the Cup-Cake-Curl plus a horrid diet and we have, TA-DAAA, some way overweight sumokins (formerly known as “munch”-kins.
      Also, I cut fast-foods and soda containing high fructose corn syrup (I now drink Mountain-Dew throwbacks….one 12 ounce can per day) and lost 15-20 pounds in just under 6 weeks with little exercise (walking a very hyper lab-mix pup) and at 6ft I can fit back into pants with a 34 in waist.

      Report Post » Latter-Day-Soldier  
  • Dougral Supports Israel
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:35am

    Perhaps we should start using the language and the tactics of the Left. Harping too much about tubbiness is discrimination against “people of size”. People who do that are fatophobic.

    Report Post »  
    • JLGunner
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:59am

      Fat people are just part of our phsically diverse population. Diversity is good, right?

      Report Post » JLGunner  
  • momof5children
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:33am

    i don’t think there is that much of an obesity problem. i think we have been told that so much that we all believe it. the media beats this drum over and over and when they do a news report they focus their camera’s on big butts and only that. but, if you pay attention while your out, you will not see obesity as much as you have been brain washed to see it. when i go to the mall, i see thin people, average size and fat. thin and average size mostly. sure there are fat people but there always has been. i believe there is something more going on here. i don’t buy into all of this everyone is overweight. just watching the morning shows on tv is nothing but weight loss programs. great if you loose weight! good for you. but i’m sick of hearing about it.
    if i told you that everyone was too skinny and went out and did nothing but film skinny butts, day after day, night after night year after year, guess what? you have now been sucked into the lie.
    it’s the brainwashing of the masses by the media, aka government at work again!
    the government wants to control what you eat, and what you feed your children.
    open your eyes and pay attention, this is just the beginning. you are being brainwashed to believe whatever they tell you!

    Report Post »  
    • deeberj
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 3:55pm

      I agree that the gov’t wants to eventually control what we eat. It is starting already with some cities banning trans fats. It will only get worse.

      Report Post » deeberj  
  • Censored_by_the_Illuminati
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:26am

    These health crusaders are a trip. They’ll complaint about smokers while they jog along the streets sucking up all the automobile exhaust. I may not be the brights bulb in the house but I think that sucking on a cigarette is much safer than sucking on the tailpipe of a Chevy Suburban.

    Report Post »  
  • Censored_by_the_Illuminati
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:19am

    I prefer the old world when being fat was normal and being a **** was unnatural.

    Report Post »  
  • CapnBill
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:11am

    Obesity in this country is terribly out of control. We eat bad food because its cheap and we get lots of it. We have allowed our food providers to put steroids and preservatives in our foods that make us fat and give us cancer. It is still a matter of choice what you put in your body, but this crap food is as bad for you as smoking!! Teaching our children is the first step, but I don’t know if the direction this ad campaign takes is right.

    Report Post » CapnBill  
    • momsense
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:11am

      Wrong–we eat what he eat not only because its available, but also because it tastes good. When they make a lousy carrot taste like a Hershey Bar, then you may have a ghost of a chance to change things.

      Report Post »  
    • DocW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 3:05pm

      Nonesense. Carrots do not have to taste like a candy bar. My kids all loved Brussels sprouts. I believe it was because as infants they were feed homegrown ones that were cooked and pureed for them. They still do. My kids were encouraged to eat one of everything and never had to clean their plates.

      Report Post »  
    • NOBAMA201258
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 4:23pm

      Exercise, exercise,exercise! Simple as can be,burn more calories than you ingest and you will lose weight!

      Report Post »  
  • trench99
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:54am

    The parents of these “fat kids” are usually quite hefty themselves so they simply do not notice that their child is more round than tall. Kids today seem less concerned about their body imagine than previous generations, examples given by their clothing choices. They do not attempt to cover it up, instead they let it all hang out. Kids are also much less active than previous generations.

    Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:36am

    Eat fat chicken fed with growth hormone become fat little chicken – old wise proverb.

    Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:23am

    Just another form to engender hate and create murder.

    Report Post »  
  • Thats_right
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:17am

    These signs make me sick! I didnt even read this article, but every time I see on I get angry.

    Report Post »  
  • LLATPOH
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:56am

    Food for thought (no pun intended…)…

    Change the theme of this crusade against obesity. In your mind, imagine it being a crusade against homosexuality.

    Really think about it. Both CAN be lifestyle choices, and both CAN also be medical or genetic (so we’re told). Both can also be potentially harmful, physically and psychologically.

    The only difference is that railing against homosexuals is considered hateful. Railing against fat people is considered helpful to society. Look at any magazine rack in a grocery store…

    How to lose 10 pounds in a week.
    Trim unwanted belly fat.
    Feel fat? Here’s how to change.
    The list goes on and on.

    You never see articles such as…

    How to be more straight.
    How to lose your flaming side in a week.
    Feeling gay? Here’s how to change.
    And so on.

    Can anyone explain why we should allow a crusade against one and not the other? I’m not being anti-gay or anti-fat here, I’m just wondering why the double-standard in society.

    Report Post »  
    • DocW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 3:16pm

      TY for making me think.
      They are not the same though. Biggest Loser TV proves that obesity can be changed. I have never heard of that for gay people.

      Report Post »  
    • NOBAMA201258
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 4:56pm

      How about Straight Watchers ?

      Report Post »  
  • Firecontrollman3
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:53am

    making fun of the fat kids is the best way to make them lose weight :D they did it to me and i lost 20 lbs in 5 months when i was 14!

    Report Post » Firecontrollman3  
    • Countrygirl1362
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:05am

      My granny always told me I was fat, even at 5′4″ and 100 lbs. By the time I was a teenager I had an eating disorder. Even at 80 lbs I was still being told I was fat. Yep, keep telling them they are fat. Glad it worked for you, many it does not.

      Report Post »  
    • DocW
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 3:18pm

      There is a big difference between mental abuse and the truth.

      Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:50am

    Most kids grow out of the fatness they had as a child. This is just a scare tactic and a waste of money.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Homeschoolmama
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 3:01pm

      Yeah that kid will grow out of it. He is just a little thick, not far. Why didn’t they use a really fatty in the ad.

      Report Post »  
  • momsense
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:50am

    Just another propaganda tool fostered by the White House propaganda machine. Why is looking like a walking corpse the proposed ideal?

    Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:44am

    .
    “Mom, why am I fat?”

    Cause we be on the Welfare….If you want to help cut off the Welfare. I’m tired of feeding OPC…..

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • Wolf
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:02am

      “…Mom, why am I fat?”…”
      Because you constantly stuff your face… get outside and play and don’t come back til I call you for supper.

      Report Post »  
  • TenthAmendmentNetwork
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:41am

    Isn’t the real question here who the group is running the ads and whether taxpayers are funding them? If they’re truly a private non-profit operating from private donations, no problem – but if they’re taking public money as a regional arm of the White House to tell us how to care for our kids, that’s another problem altogether.

    –
    Tenth Amendment Network – Join us!
    http://www.tenthamendment.net

    Report Post »  
  • stormerwasright
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:37am

    “Feeding America’s Child Food Insecurity Study, released in August of 2011, revealed that 27.9% of Georgia’s children live in food insecure households”…and 40% are over weight ? Here we go with the phoney statistics again….By the way, didn’t the government solve all of the problem by controlling what the kids eat at school? The problem is the parents folks…these days it’s “throw food at ‘em and sit them down in front of the TV to keep them out of the way”…few want to take the time to actually raise children anymore.

    Report Post » stormerwasright  
    • GrannyATL
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:46am

      The ridiculous part of these darn billboards is that schools no longer encourage kids to go out and play — recess is no longer part of their school day.

      Get back to the basics — kids NEED to be active and giving them time during their school day to run around and play is a big part of that.

      One more example of the DOE coming in and screwing up the school systems.

      Report Post » GrannyATL  
    • jharper
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:58am

      You are so RIGHT! Food insecurity! Bosh!!! I have food insecurity. It usually occurs around 5 p.m. on the days that I realize I didn’t take anything out of the freezer for dinner. The kids get free breakfast and lunch at school because they would otherwise be “starving to death”, yet they are fat as ham hocks. You bring up such a valid point.

      Report Post »  
  • nobull14
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:19am

    The little porker’s need to go on a diet ??? if you keep pampering them they are never going to start eating right !!!! the parents need to get there act together also ?

    Report Post »  
    • momsense
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 11:14am

      Feeding them slop or expecting them to graze isn’t the answer either.Have you read about how kids are not eating the government ordered diets in schools, and are going hungry? The only ones making out are the garbage collectors.

      Report Post »  
  • BornJewishMuslimByFaith
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:18am

    I believe many parents are too over protective. There was a book Maggie Goes on A Diet in news a few months ago where the author wrote about a over weight girl who was unhappy and made fun of for being fat. She would eat food out of being made of her weight. Soon she started eating healthy and exercising; When she lost weight and became more active she finally became happy with her new lifestyles. What I hate about other parents is that they are just to over protective. They always find fault with everything and feel like their opinion is what matters.

    Report Post »  
  • The Silversmith
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:09am

    In my school, the local bully called you fatty until you got fed up and lost weight. Unexpected side effect of the war on bullying I guess.

    Report Post »  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on January 3, 2012 at 9:05am

      In my school the bully din’t stop until you had a go at him. Then win lose or draw he found a more timid victim. I was the overwieght kid but moved liked a regualr kid weight was an advantage for the takedown and most forget that alot of times with seight also comes power.

      Report Post »  
  • ares338
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:06am

    How bout sum hawg jowls and chitlin’s?

    Report Post » ares338  
  • Dahart
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:06am

    This is not educational ……it’s activism! Pointing fingers dose not help

    Report Post » Dahart  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 8:03am

    .
    Question “Mom, why am I fat?”

    Answer “Because Mommy & Daddy are Fat & Lazy, and they don’t Love you!”…….

    Oh, and you eat nothing but Crap………

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • Christian Kalgaard
    Posted on January 3, 2012 at 7:59am

    fake issue who cares just a distraction

    Report Post » Christian Kalgaard  
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