A little bit of baby fat

From the Globe and Mail:

Is your child too fat? Your doctor may be the only one brave enough to tell you.

Give me a break. If you or your child is "too fat" (by whatever arbitrary standard you choose), all of society will feel entirely free to tell you. And tell you. And tell you.

There's been a trend lately in "obesity epidemic" stories of claiming that people don't know when they (or their children) are overweight. It's insane. No one whose BMI is even the slightest bit outside that arbitrary "ideal" range is under any illusions. Some of us struggle to lose weight. Some of us struggle to be healthy (not necessarily the same thing!). But we're all aware that we're part of the "obesity epidemic" (yes, even those of us who are technically "overweight" rather than "obese"). And it's just as true of children. This idea that "tough love" is needed is just heartbreaking. As is this quote:

For the longest time, a little bit of baby fat was okay

Did you notice that? Not even "a little bit" of baby fat is acceptable anymore.

Junkfood Science is the go-to blog on the absurdities of scare stories like these, so go there and read through her archives. She does an excellent job of highlighting what's wrong with the BMI, the "obesity epidemic" and the trend of weighing and measuring school kids.