It’s no secret that childhood obesity is ravaging parts of America, and it’s definitely a phenomenon that deserves serious consideration. Statistics show that the trend is still rising despite better efforts to educate young people and parents alike. There are more factors at play here than people simply choosing to eat fast food more than they should. There are social, economical, and cultural elements that have resulted in more people being overweight than ever. It’s a difficult problem to combat, but doing something about it is far better than letting it get worse. Who knows what the answer is, but should the fight involved shaming people?
If you haven’t seen them already, you probably will soon. There are ads put out by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta organization that are drawing a lot of controversy. There are several of them, but all of them have the same general theme. They feature overweight children talking about their experience and imply how they are added to his advantage because of their condition. They are quite shocking because they don’t sugarcoat things despite the fact they feature younger actors. It’s rather uncomfortable to think what these actors themselves thought about the script they were given in front of the camera. But make no mistake about it, these ads definitely have an impact in some way, but the real question is will they be effective or not?
The people behind the commercials say that they raise awareness especially for parents who are to wear anything wrong. In many parts of Atlanta, apparently being overweight is perfectly natural. The argument is sometimes kids are overweight because parents simply don’t know they done anything wrong. They continue on with high-fat diets and poor eating choices because that’s just the way things are, and they don’t necessarily see obesity as a health risk. It’s an understandable viewpoint especially when everyone around you is overweight, it might be a big mystery as to why other people would worry about your health. When it’s a part of the culture, being overweight is a lot more difficult to come back.
People who argue against the ads say they draw even more social stigma to the problem and make overweight people feel worse. Since there is an emotional component to eating, this can impact self-esteem and lead to a cycle that perpetuates itself. In other words, if you make overweight people feel even worse about their condition, they will turn to food even more. This is especially true when children are involved since they have such impressionable egos, and they are susceptible to criticism in a variety of forms. What impact will one of these ants have on kids if they recognize themselves in some way? Will they decide that it’s time to get fit, or will they feel bad and turn to food for comfort?
We have to consider there might be a culture of food that experts and scientists are unfamiliar with. Maybe turning things around and really focusing at giving a direct message is the best way to go. There is no argument that parents will always want the best things for their children, and they will go to great lengths to ensure their health and prosperity. If the problem is that parents don’t even perceive a health concern, that’s something that definitely needs to change in the future.
It’s difficult to predict the outcome of this entire ad campaign but it’s clear Atlanta is fully behind giving it a try. Millions of dollars have been invested in this particular campaign, and they aren’t going to stop just because there’s criticism. People who believe in a tough love approach undoubtedly appreciate this clear message that will hopefully shock people into a more active lifestyle. Time will tell if posters with an overweight little girl with the caption “It’s hard to be a little girl when you’re not” is the appropriate method to achieve this goal.
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