Paula Deen, the fear of food and CHOA's lies.

I happen to like Paula Deen ever since I heard her on Wait Wait Don't Tell me (She nailed all three of her questions about Tofu). Where she had some good advice about her Krispie Creme burger. Only one serving per lifetime. (I have yet to do my one time.) I am saddened to hear that she has diabetes and even more saddened to hear about attacks on her by another chef (Anthony Bourdain) for her high fat diet (Bourdain's only qualification toward being "healthy" is that he is thin; this former drug addict is also  an unapologetic drinker and smoker, also Bourdain's recipes are filled with fat as well. Both chefs make their foods from scratch.)

She was vilified in Salon that her own cooking caused her diabetes. Paul Campos has written a good essay why that probably isn't true. 

What also saddens me is the increased fear of food. Comfort food, soul food, celebratory food, all food considered bad for us has become of limits, even in moderation. If you eat comfort food, you are psychologically damaged. Kids can't touch any cupcakes at school party because if they are fat they are bad for eating it, if they thin they might become fat.  Even cheese has been vilified (warning on the link, it's filled with fat hatred.) We have made food the enemy. Unless you have a food allergy, food is nothing to fear. Food can be amazing, even the stuff that you can only have once per lifetime, even the stuff no one in their right mind should be eating. Learning to enjoy food takes away any sinful associations, allows your body and your mind the freedom to analyze what they need.

Dieting takes that decision away. 10 years after my last diet, I still haven't fully returned to eating normally, I still can't enjoy good food the way I want. I still can't savor it without guilt, and I still have trouble slowing my eating out of fear the food will be gone.

Now to the people that hate fat children about who I wrote previously.  First off, every single child in the ad campaign are actors. Surprised? I'm not. (It's an advert, people!)

One of the children, an articulate, sixth-grader named Chloe McSwain, from Sandy Springs, Ga., is portrayed as “Maritza.” At the beginning of a black-and-white 30-second spot, she stares right into the camera.

“My doctor says I have something called hypertension,” she says. “I’m really scared.” In white block letters, “SOME DISEASES AREN’T JUST FOR ADULTS ANYMORE,” flashes across a black screen.  In real life, Chloe, 11, actually doesn’t have hypertension, according to her mother.

 Meanwhile Doug Hertz a trustee (Not a doctor or medical profession but the local beer guy) of Children's health care of Atlanta. (CHOA) has defending their ads claiming that everyone is ignoring the issue. Except I've been reporting stories since this blog's inception how weight loss is constantly pushed on children. Hertz claimed It is not about a child’s weight; it is about increased risk of illnesses once seen only in adults. These include hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver problems, to name a few.

If it isn't about weight, why are the ads filled with fat kids, disturbed that they are fat?

Oh and CHOA, take note, Georgia has to two biggest polluters in the Country, the worst one is 60 miles from Atlanta. Maybe CHOA would like to focus on other health issues, say Asthma? But I suppose it's easier to pick on fat kids that take on a dirty plant.

I leave you with a far more beautiful and positive image

 

 

Comments

[vesta44]

And the reason those diseases aren't for adults anymore is because they're now testing kids for them, where before, kids weren't tested for hypertension or type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. Kids are now being diagnosed with those diseases because the diagnostic standards have been lowered - if fat kids had been tested for those diseases 30 years ago, with the diagnostic standards of 30 years ago, there wouldn't have been a hue and cry raised back then. If they tested fat kids today with the diagnostic standards of 30 years ago (which were perfectly fine back then and would be perfectly fine today - people wouldn't be dying in any greater numbers from those diseases now than they were then), there would be no need for all the handwringing and "urgency" to end "childhood obesity". It wouldn't be any more of a problem now than it was 30 years ago. Lowered diagnostic standards do nothing but make more healthy people seem sick so that they can be prescribed medication and pharmaceutical companies can increase market share (and profits).

[T]

Just FYI to readers here: if you read Paul's article, don't read the comments unless you have a decade's worth of Sanity Watchers points you're just dying to get rid of. I made it through four comments before giving up.

[Lisa]

I agree with what the photo said, no to discrimination please, what's wrong with these people.