Update:
We reported below on the lengths Georgia has gone to to educate the community about childhood obesity. Now watch this video entitled “Stop the Cycle,” from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the organization behind Strong4Life.
“The stark video opens with an obese young man having a heart attack and then cycles back in time to illustrate how lifestyle choices, made by others for him as a child and by him as an adult, contributed to this end.”
The video aims to continue the conversation about the clinical reality of the long-term consequences of childhood obesity, and its complex causes, both societal and parental.
It’s very powerful. But will it change behaviour?
Georgia has the second highest childhood obesity rate in the United States, with nearly one in three children overweight.
Their solution to the problem? A new “Stop Child Obesity” campaign which doesn’t muck around with its messaging. The ads include tv ads and print ads with slogans such as “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid” and “Fat prevention begins at home. And the buffet line.”
The ads have won some praise for their attention-grabbing tactics. But they also have outraged parents, activists and academics who feel like the ads will bring on more stigma for an already bullied group of children.
The Georgia Children’s Health Alliance, which created the ads, said they were necessary to jar parents of obese kids out of a state of denial that their children had a problem.
ABC News reported that the ads were produced after the Alliance surveyed parents in two towns in Georgia. From The Huffington Post:
They discovered that 75 percent of parents with obese children were not aware that their children were overweight, while 50 percent of parents didn’t realize that childhood obesity was a problem to begin with. And in a state where nearly 40 percent of children are overweight or obese — Georgia is in 2nd place for childhood obesity rates nationwide, only behind Mississippi — these statistics are problematic.
Here are some of the ads so that you can watch and decide for yourself which side of the fence you sit on:
What do you think of the ads?
Top Comments
I married into an obese family. My husband and his sisters followed the example of their parent's in the food and eating habits they developed. It is very much the parent's responsibility to teach and educate their children in what is healthy. But also the genetics of the family affect this too, so i know part of this is not their fault, but it gives me great concern for what my children may inherit from the genes.
Having said that - there comes a point in everyone's life when the responsibility moves from the parent's to the individual, and it is the individual that has the control over their habits. I've watched my husband over the past 5 years battle with his weight - it's affected his work, his friendships, his mental health too. He's made the decision to change his life and his body because one day a TRUE friend took him aside and expressed their concern for him and his habits.
Part of me wishes everyday that his parent's had raised him better, that they had cared that little bit more so he wouldn't have had these struggles and battles, that he wouldn't have copped the bullying and abuse, the medical bills and the rejection.
The other part of me is so proud of what he has accomplished in teaching himself about healthy eating habits, regular exercise etc, and even more proud that he has developed the discipline to use this knowledge.
So yes, I think these ads are a good idea, but I also agree that there is more work that needs to be done. There needs to be more action as the previous comments have said. Healthier options of food need to be more readily available and at a more decent price, packaging needs to be less attractive so not to entice children as quickly, the education system should encourage the practice and learning of healthy diet and cooking in classes, regular exercise by all class members and possibly some alternative options like yoga, Pilates, wider options of dance, gymnastics, etc so physical activity appeals to all students and not just the "jocks", theory work in PE about how your body works and reacts and why it needs good food balanced with exercise is important too. But also different bodies (short and stocky does not mean your fat, tall and lean does not mean your are healthy either) and get rid of BMI. I found all these things lacking in my education. But also greater support to parents in how they can encourage a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their children too. Maybe if schools offered a support class where parents come a cook with their kids once a term?
Obesity is more than just weight or a number, and it can be controlled if everyone takes action.
Wow I get tired of reading that healthy food is cheaper than junk food! I am in walking distance of a wide variety of supermarkets, green grocers, cafes and restaurants. I do not want for choice or live in an isolated place where fruit and veg are hard to get. Yet they're not cheap! Pasta, bread, biscuits, and soft drink are cheap. Fish, vegetables, fruit, meat are not.
This is only addressing a small part of what's being discussed here, I know, but it drives me crazy.