Does Georgia Hate Fat Kids?

The new year is here, and so is the flood of diet ads, weight loss pill advertisements and general fat shaming.

Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams has a great article out today, Why is Georgia Shaming Fat Children?, discussing a new Strong 4 Life ad campaign. The campaign features five different kids talking about how hard it is to be a fat kid in school today. Obviously, my heart breaks for these kids, and I have no doubt that life is hard for them. But is making them feel worse good for them? And other fat kids? If shame were that powerful a motivator, there would be no fat kids left. Right?

The balance between not shaming and acknowledging the fact that children are getting more and more unhealthy is a tricky one. As Williams states, "Despite our cultural obsession with weight problems, we still chafe at identifying individuals – especially children — who have them. Calling someone obese is considered a cruel taunt rather than a statement of fact. The unusually frank public service announcements demystify fatness." I get that, but I also get that this ad campaign, and the vast majority of other obesity-fighting initiatives focus on obese PEOPLE and not obesity. Demonizing people keeps the focus off other issues like the influence of food industry lobbyists on nutrition standards, lack of public places to excercise, diminished focus on physical education, etc. Basically, you know, the causes.