Penguin unearthed

Child obesity

There has been a huge amount of publicity of increasing proportions of children being overweight and obese. The studies often add that obesity is much more common in poorer children, for a variety of reasons (including access to exercise as well as healthy food). So I've been assuming that where I live (not a poor area) is pretty much as it ever was.

I was clearing out my study the other day, and stopped to look at my old school photos. The thing I noticed was not so much that the children looked thinner, but that child that I remembered as "the fat kid" actually looked quite normal to me now. There weren't any children that I went to school with that I would stop and think - gee that child is fat. But they were certainly teased unmercifully for being fat at the time.

It's probably just as hard being "the fat kid" at school as it ever was. But if you are "the fat kid" you are probably at least 20% heavier than you would have been thirty years ago.

posted by Jennifer @ 9:26 pm