This meme (I’ve made some alterations, as you can see) has resurfaced in my Facebook newsfeed, highlighting the difference in the cost between a ‘healthy meal’ and a fast food meal and asking us to consider if the comparative low cost of the ‘bad’ food is “Why Kids Are Obese”. Although, on the surface this is a good message – healthy food should be as cheap and accessible as ‘junk’ food, this meme does not sit well with me and here’s why:
First, the statement “this is why kids are obese” implies that basically all children are fat – too fat for their own good. Even if you believe that ‘childhood obesity’ is on the rise, I think implying broadly that ‘kids are obese’ is a huge over-statement. This is problematic, not only because it is grossly inaccurate, but because it is shamelessly fear-mongering, feeding the frenzy of blaming absolutely everything that is wrong in our society on something that, for the most part, is out of our control (we can control our behaviours, not our body). It is like that often-quoted but thoroughly debunked statement that the media sensationalized a couple of years ago that ‘this is the first generation of children that won’t outlive their parents”. Utter bunk – and retracted by the authors of the original article. Not surprisingly, life expectancy continues to rise..but the fear-mongering message still lingers and skews our ideas of health and our relationship with food. That is the danger of messages like this one.
Secondly, this type of messaging is actually causing harm by disregarding the fact that eating too much “junk” food is just as bad for thinner kids as it is for fatter kids. Thinner kids also need easier access to healthier food. And, as much as we would like to believe it, a thin body is not some kind of protective spell that guarantees good health. Even more disturbing, these messages increase weight stigma and are body shaming for fat kids. Studies show that ‘anti-obesity’ campaigns are correlated with increased body dissatisfaction and increased levels of eating disorders. It has been reported that childhood anti-obesity campaigns in countries like Australia and Scotland have coincided with eating disorders showing up in children as young as six years old. You see, it’s hard for fat kids not to feel like our attempts to ‘combat childhood obesity’ are an attempt to get rid of them. And they definitely get the message that they are not good enough.
My point …and I do have one….is that *all* kids need easier access to healthier foods – not just the fatter ones. Yes, it is problematic that healthy food is expensive and out of reach for so many people. If we are truly concerned about kids health, we will advocate for increased access to healthy foods (and exercise, and all those good things) for all children, and find ways to celebrate body diversity. Yes, with changes in diet and exercise some of the fatter kids may lose some weight (if these healthy behaviours are new for them). Or not. But that’s not what matters, because moving more and eating veggies will improve kids health, whether or not weight changes as a result.
So please, let’s stop using ‘concern for fat kid’s health’ as an excuse to perpetuate body shaming messaging like this one.