Mom, why am I fat?

A number of American States are getting tough on obesity and have initiated tough talking campaigns. Instead of the usual run of adverts gently warning of the health dangers of obesity the new ones are asking painful questions.

For example one new controversial obesity campaign in Georgia named Stop Sugarcoating It is designed to send a hard hitting message to families that having overweight children is not normal and not a good idea. Proponents of this campaign say that they are being forced to shock parents into doing something about the eating habits of their children.

In one of the advertisements a mother and her little boy look at each other sadly while the boy asks her -Mom, why am I fat? In another advertisement a young girl say announces that she is suffering from hypertension and that she is really frightened. The campaign uses a slogan saying that 75 percent of parents with overweight children do not admit there is a problem. 

Ms. Linda Matzigkeit who was involved with this campaign and who works a hospital called Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta said that unless the campaign was harsh nobody would listen to their message. She spoke about how obesity was a medical crisis and that almost one million children in Georgia were classified as being overweight or obese. In the hospital she said there were children with Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some even needing knee replacement operations!

Not everybody thinks that these campaigns are a good idea however with some people arguing that campaigns that focused on the negative aspects of obesity could drive children to become depressed and suffer from low self esteem, which in turn could make them shun exercise and eat more.

New York City has also initiated a powerful anti obesity campaign fronted by the direct talking Mayor Michael Bloomberg who said that unless people were given proper education about what overeating did to them and their health they would not be able to deal with it.