By New York Times
Published: March 18, 2010
The fight against childhood obesity is a hot topic right now, thanks in part to Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign and Jamie Oliver's highly anticipated "Food Revolution" TV series. Every day, lawmakers, health experts, parents and teachers are talking about the importance of ending the epidemic and rallying school children to change their eating habits and get moving.
Only good can come from this, right? Wrong, says Harriet Brown in a
New York Times article exploring the stigma of being fat. She says prejudice against overweight kids is an unintended consequence of shining the spotlight on obesity.
The article gave one example of an overweight high-school student who was taunted by her classmates after posters about preventing teenage obesity were hung in the halls . "Look at the fat chick," the classmates teased. What's more, Brown writes, the prejudice can also prevent thinner kids from getting the message about their own health habits, because they think the message isn't for them.
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