New anti-obesity campaign. What do you think?

[hilary1617]

Things that disturb me as I don't think they are commonplace and thing they feed into stereotypes, blaming and stigma:
5. The stats conveyed to the ER doctor by the nurse: 5'9" ,300 lbs., 32 years old. [Really. Wouldn't they be transmitting info about his current status - BP, heartrate etc.? Height and weight? How many heart attacks are at age 32?]
4. ER doctor questioning "How the hell does that happen?" the height and weight. [Appears to me to blame and disrespect the victim.]
3. Placement of the weird faux sweat on the man on the operating table. [Feeds into the fat, sweaty and unattractive stereotype.]
2. Child hiding candy in drawers. [Really?]
1. French Fry scene. [I have *never* seen anyone feed a baby French fries because they rejected Cheerios.]

 

[Spiky Bugger]

what does this mean, can you explain more?

We know I know nothing about science, right?

Starting there, I think that some signal that feels like starvation is sent to the brain and causes the MO and SMO person to eat more than the body needs to function properly. I don't know what sets if off. I didn't have the compulsion to eat so much as a young person. And I have a little less of it now. I think that further dopamine research will give us more clues. (IOW, it really IS all in our heads.)

I like Gene-Jack Wang's (that's his name) research. It shows up in stuff like this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3124340/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12387683
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11210998

 

[Jo777]

Things that disturb me as I don't think they are commonplace and thing they feed into stereotypes, blaming and stigma:
5. The stats conveyed to the ER doctor by the nurse: 5'9" ,300 lbs., 32 years old. [Really. Wouldn't they be transmitting info about his current status - BP, heartrate etc.? Height and weight? How many heart attacks are at age 32?]
4. ER doctor questioning "How the hell does that happen?" the height and weight. [Appears to me to blame and disrespect the victim.]
3. Placement of the weird faux sweat on the man on the operating table. [Feeds into the fat, sweaty and unattractive stereotype.]
2. Child hiding candy in drawers. [Really?]
1. French Fry scene. [I have *never* seen anyone feed a baby French fries because they rejected Cheerios.]

I want to put in another perspective, from first hand exp with some of these.. sometimes very painful first- hand exp.. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just putting in a reality I live with, work with, and have had first hand.

1. Oh hell yes.. You've never seen a parent so overwhelmed that they give their screaming tantruming kid anything that they want to stop them? Candy, chips? Never? Even many parents I know (unfortunately) think it's kinda fun to test out various foods on a 1yr old to see their reactions, including: fries, hot dogs, chocolate..
2. Yes. I hid food. This is not uncommon.
3. You have a heart attack, you sweat profusely (I've seen this first hand).. if anything, there wasn't enough sweat.
4. ER doc saying something like this, totally normal. Sorry. & also, could he have not been questioning how a person may be having a heart attack at 32 and not the weight part? That is a perspective you saw, I didn't. But from being in first-responder, and ER settings, the things that are said go beyond this, regularly.
5. Normal. Every am we have a meeting to discuss pt stats and tx plans. Age, medical status (obesity is frequent, even among pedo pts too.) Weight is very important when you are going to be administering medications. Until they get him hooked up to the monitors, the HR, BP stats will not be known, the rest is from the take-in sheet.

 

[Jo777]

We know I know nothing about science, right?

Starting there, I think that some signal that feels like starvation is sent to the brain and causes the MO and SMO person to eat more than the body needs to function properly. I don't know what sets if off. I didn't have the compulsion to eat so much as a young person. And I have a little less of it now. I think that further dopamine research will give us more clues. (IOW, it really IS all in our heads.)

I like Gene-Jack Wang's (that's his name) research. It shows up in stuff like this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3124340/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12387683
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11210998

I have read some interesting science regarding obesity, and one thing that has stuck out.. once someone adds enough adipose tissue (and it doesn't take a whole lot), the person being able to maintain a normal appetite, losthe fat, and maintain it without help becomes excessively difficult. We all know it's hormonally active tissue on it's own, not just handy wobbly storage for lean times.

Not saying that something is off kilter to begin with to allow fat to be excessively stored vs used (as a child, or adult) or for appetite to not be down-regulated in the presence of excess energy as a normal acting hunger/satiety feedback would cause. Several studies have shown it's not really a shortage of activity, despite devices etc that is driving it for children.. I do firmly feel in addition to having a subset of people born prone to excessive storage, also I feel that the TYPES of foods being introduced to young brains, foods that are inherently very stimulating, do a number on rewiring/short-circuiting the inherent functional appetite/energy balance that many people have from the get-go. Add to that the myriad of social/economic/emotional issues.. and you have a great set-up for creating what's going on now. This is not even bringing in the appetite/metabolic changes passed on epigenetically. When you consider the amount of obese people that are also malnourished having children.. out the gate, those kids are not given an even hand (epigenetics, that was not a social comment.)

 

[hilary1617]

@Jo777 Interesting - we have had such different experiences. Guess that's what shapes perspective.

 

[DianaCox]

I have read some interesting science regarding obesity, and one thing that has stuck out.. once someone adds enough adipose tissue (and it doesn't take a whole lot), the person being able to maintain a normal appetite, losthe fat, and maintain it without help becomes excessively difficult. We all know it's hormonally active tissue on it's own, not just handy wobbly storage for lean times.

Not saying that something is off kilter to begin with to allow fat to be excessively stored vs used (as a child, or adult) or for appetite to not be down-regulated in the presence of excess energy as a normal acting hunger/satiety feedback would cause. Several studies have shown it's not really a shortage of activity, despite devices etc that is driving it for children.. I do firmly feel in addition to having a subset of people born prone to excessive storage, also I feel that the TYPES of foods being introduced to young brains, foods that are inherently very stimulating, do a number on rewiring/short-circuiting the inherent functional appetite/energy balance that many people have from the get-go. Add to that the myriad of social/economic/emotional issues.. and you have a great set-up for creating what's going on now. This is not even bringing in the appetite/metabolic changes passed on epigenetically. When you consider the amount of obese people that are also malnourished having children.. out the gate, those kids are not given an even hand (epigenetics, that was not a social comment.)

This is good stuff, and rings very true for me.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Things that disturb me as I don't think they are commonplace and thing they feed into stereotypes, blaming and stigma:
5. The stats conveyed to the ER doctor by the nurse: 5'9" ,300 lbs., 32 years old. [Really. Wouldn't they be transmitting info about his current status - BP, heartrate etc.? Height and weight? How many heart attacks are at age 32?]
4. ER doctor questioning "How the hell does that happen?" the height and weight. [Appears to me to blame and disrespect the victim.]
3. Placement of the weird faux sweat on the man on the operating table. [Feeds into the fat, sweaty and unattractive stereotype.]
2. Child hiding candy in drawers. [Really?]
1. French Fry scene. [I have *never* seen anyone feed a baby French fries because they rejected Cheerios.]

Unfortunately, the part that hit home the most for me was the little boy hiding candy. I learned that at a pretty young age and the secret, shameful binge eating probably contributed the most to my highest weight.

 

[kirmy]

Things that disturb me as I don't think they are commonplace and thing they feed into stereotypes, blaming and stigma:
5. The stats conveyed to the ER doctor by the nurse: 5'9" ,300 lbs., 32 years old. [Really. Wouldn't they be transmitting info about his current status - BP, heartrate etc.? Height and weight? How many heart attacks are at age 32?]
4. ER doctor questioning "How the hell does that happen?" the height and weight. [Appears to me to blame and disrespect the victim.]
3. Placement of the weird faux sweat on the man on the operating table. [Feeds into the fat, sweaty and unattractive stereotype.]
2. Child hiding candy in drawers. [Really?]
1. French Fry scene. [I have *never* seen anyone feed a baby French fries because they rejected Cheerios.]

You need the patient's weight to give him inotropes in order to stop the progression of muscle death in the cardiac muscle i.e. unblock the clot. They would also be giving vital statistics too. That bit was hammy.
Sweating is a one of the signs of a myocardial infarction...happens 80% of the time I reckon...pale, clammy sweaty and pain.
Doctors can be massive arseholes. They nearly always comment on a SMO patient. Being SMO is not normal, they are people who work to paremeters and often find deviations to this difficult to accept. Try being SMO and working alongside them!
I hid food. I stole food, I did all of the crazy shit. I collected the set.
I once watched a woman give a toddler a can of coke and a kit kat. I was stunned. Terrible infant nutrition practices are common amongst low socio-economic families living under the breadline in the UK. You can buy family packs of crisps and sweets in Iceland, Liddles or Farmfoods for £1 but meat and veg is triple that price. Children like fat and sugar and parents can afford that. Now this is one fucker of a generalisation but poverty and obesity has a definate correlation. My personal experience as a patient flow manager working with Social services showed me some stark realities. Bad parenting comes from ignorance in some cases not necessarily intent. It is insuling to us middleclass educated women but then we assume everyone has our smarts...when they don't. Idiots find it easy to get knocked up.

 

[DianaCox]

"Bad parenting comes from ignorance in some cases not necessarily intent. It is insul[t]ing to us middleclass educated women but then we assume everyone has our smarts...when they don't. Idiots find it easy to get knocked up."

I know this is tiresomely repetitive, but - 50% of the population has an IQ under 100, by definition. Planning ahead, figuring out dietary needs, organizing a weekly menu with a balanced nutritional profile, shopping economically - this is not so simple for some people.

 

[kirmy]

We live in a society that is pushing for a stupid majority to be ruled by an educated elite.

I'll just go get my hammer and sickle shall I?

 

[hilary1617]

I appreciate everyone's views here. It is very interesting to me that my experience has been so different.

1. I can say honestly that my parents, who are fitness fanatics, had absolutely nothing to do with my adult-onset obesity (beyond genetics).

2. I have two children. Both eat a balanced diet and lead lives filled exercise. Both kids have PE class daily (during which all students even wear heart monitors); swimming and horseback riding lessons weekly; walk to and from school 1/2 mile every day regardless of weather. They bike, use the climbing wall, and play squash on weekends. They sail their own prams and 420's every day in the summer. Both kids eat a carefully planned diet with vegetables every day and sweets only on special occasions. We neither reward nor punish with food. I can count on my hands the number of times they have eaten fast food in their lives. They didn't even realize what McDonald's was until L was 7 - they assumed it was the Ronald McDonald house where they stayed while L was being treated at a pulmonary hospital when they were little. No soda, no sugary cereal, etc. is kept in our house. I only cook enough for each person to have a single portion.

One child is heavy and one is thin. Both were thin until my son was placed on steroids due to severe asthma, and then additional medications to deal with ADD and encopresis. I want both children to be comfortable with their bodies and not feel as if they are treated unfairly at mealtime. I don't want L to be treated badly by others.

I don't see any correspondence between what is the video and how L arrived at his weight, nor how I arrived at mine.

At the end of the day, I still feel that this video does nothing to help parents like me and further embeds stigma and blame. I can see it resulting in people feeling justified in being mean to L. I don't see it resulting in people helping him.

 

[kirmy]

Your experiences are valuable. The education campaign is certainly not one size fits all. I'm playing devils advocate but it's easy to understand how a parent could feel defensive.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I'm torn. as a message to parents it seems profound, but simplistic in the extreme. YES we need to educate about proper feeding of kids.....but a, are cheerios that much better than fries (car s anyone?), and b, does. anyone really believe this type of message will make a lasting difference in the lives of those most at risk of such horrible nutrition, the families living in food poverty?

we have created a climate where middle class parents live in terror of letting their kids go outside to play, because of mostly fictitious "stranger danger," and our economic realities have trapped far too many food impoverished families in places where the fear is founded.

"you have to make a change." this, I suspect, is what almost every adult viewer will hear, and then use it to blame and shame the fat bums of the country. the mo folks will look at all the changes that got them nowhere and will feel even more hopeless.

 

[kirmy]

Great points EN. I'm inclined to agree with you.

 

[Munchkin]

Darn... The video is gone!