Childhood obesity? Controversial? Surely you jest!

I was reading my favorite health blog, Well: Tara Parker-Pope on Health, and ran into this apparently controversial post written by Tara Parker-Pope (TPP) about childhood obesity. Not that the post itself caused a huge stir, but it was due to the photo that she posted of a large 5-year-old leaving an exercise program for overweight children. Only 207 people have commented so far (ONLY 207!), and all were very passionate about how they felt. Some of my personal favorite quotes:

• “It’s just energy economics.” –Posted by An MD’s Husband
• “Kids of my generation spent a lot of time in front of the TV; we didn’t get that fat.” — Posted by WigWag
• “Don’t manipulate [your kids] into doing ‘activities’” –Posted by Formerly Fat
• “Talk to your govn’t representative about public outdoor fitness.” –Posted by DR
• “Stop buying soda!” –Posted by Leslie
• “If you are fat, good chance you are passing the lifestyle on down the line. It’s its own form of child abuse.” –Posted by Dora
• “It is pretty clear that being fat is not as unhealthy as being dead…” –Posted by JillyFlower
• “Just as having poor personal hygiene, being a disgusting slavery bigot, should never be allowed to become a social norm.” –Posted by Nom, nom, nom! in response to another person’s comment

So much passion! I would LOVE to hear people’s thoughts.

Is any press good press?

The post mentioned Baylor College of Medicine’s Children’s Nutrition Research Center. Our partners! TPP discussed the energy calculators developed by CNRC that parents can use to determine how many calories their child should be eating each day. The reference to CNRC had nothing to do with the photo; it was just a bad coincidence that she mentioned them in this particular article.

However, I wonder if any press is really good press. It at least exposed some people to the CNRC and that there are researchers here in Houston that are trying to help kids by learning more about nutrition. Lots of people have opinions about nutrition, physical activity, obesity, etc. Most people don’t agree on these topics at all. I suppose it’s good that 207 people care so much about a photo of a child going to an exercise camp.

What do you think?