Flawed, Yearly

I can't tell you how opposed I am to this recommendation, for several reasons: 1. Kids know if they are fat! They don't need the doctor reinforcing that. 2. Having a doctor talk to a child and tell them that they're fat and need to lose weight is just as counterproductive as it is for adults. Kids are already dieting and hating their bodies at a very young age; why do we need even more doctors to reinforce this unhealthy behavior? 3. I would like to know what doctors are going to recommend for their fat patients that they don't recommend for everyone. EVERY child deserves to be able to eat a varied, nutritious diet and to move their body in pleasurable ways. To make this about body size is defeating and setting kids up for a lifetime of bad habits (e.g. dieting, body hatred)-- that is, if they don't have them already.

Agreed, Jennifer. It's just another way to promote fat phobia, I feel. The BMI is a nice, convenient way of determining if someone is "fat"; despite flaws, it's the easiest way to label someone as fat and not feel guilty. ("Your BMI is 50? You're fat! Get surgery!") I know that, growing up, I enjoyed having a supportive family doctor who would simply note that my height would catch up to my weight. It did, somewhat, and then I went on a diet (which of course was the fun part)... but he never, ever pushed any diet or weight loss crap on me. Parents, neither. I suspect that this is tied in to the glut of stories I've seen lately on kids and gastric bypass.

You know what? They did do this when I was in high school - in gym class of all places. But this was before they had those nifty machines that you just hold, our PE teachers had this pinching things that hurt like hell. They gave you a number and you went and looked it up on a chart. And of course everyone wanted to know your number. How embarrassing. And did it stop me from being fat? Nope. Can't shame me out of these extra pounds.

I worry about parents putting their kids on diets based on the advice of doctors. We all know that diets don't work, and only cause more weight gain and food obsession (and sometimes severe eating disorders). And for the kids who "successfully" diet, will they be robbing their bodies of calcium or other essential nutrients during their growth years? I still wonder sometimes if I might have grown a few more inches had I not started dieting in my early teens and spend subsequent years starving myself to keep my weight down. I just think that the kind of "eat less and exercise more" advice given by so many doctors will translate in the minds of many parents as "put your kid on a restrictive diet" which will ultimately leave them worse off both physically and emotionally.

Of course it will translate that way, pseu, because that is EXACTLY what "eat less & exercise more" means, however you dress it up. It means, "go on a diet." I am a lifelong exerciser, & it has taken many years for me to learn to divorce my exercise from the hope of weight loss, & fully accept that my exercise is healthy & beneficial for me in & of itself, & that I am not going to lose weight, & that it is alright. Our culture pushes exercise for "health", but the message we are sent is that "health" means being thin, period.

Patsy, you are right, if you go to a gym, I can guarantee that 80 percent of the regulars are there for the looks. Though I agree that excercise should be a part of our lives for health's sake, I would rather see my child excercising (then, moderately) than dieting. Most of us are vain and it's not that bad either. You should love your body and exercise is a good way to learn to love it.

God forbid anyone looking at me when I'm at my gym. *LMAO* Nah, kids need to be pulled off their PCs and game consoles and shoved outside with skipping rope and skateboards. A few good and safe parks would do the trick I believe. Kids and diets do NOT mix. It just sets the kids up with trouble for the rest of their lives.

Ugh. I still remember when we had to do the "pinch" test in gym class. I knew darn well I was not thin but I didn't have a choice. It's sad that this kind of bigotry is still being practiced and that it has a stamp of approval from doctors. I guarantee you, it will only lead to more kids being bullied and having lower self-esteem.