Actually, I'm
definitely not harboring holier-than-thou feelings about kids and/or obesity. My best friend was a "fat" kid, and I'm currently well over 50lbs over my ideal weight. She struggled mightily with her weight all through junior high and high school, never managing to be thinner than about a BMI of 28-29 no matter WHAT she did... and it wasn't for lack of physical activity on her part or mine, I assure you-- we probably got 70+ minutes of aerobic activity daily. The difference that strikes me, looking back on things, was that at my house, we had "meals" and there was little snacking outside of them. Food just wasn't used that way. At her house, it was constant 'nibbling' and no real meals, and binge eating was given tacit approval as a way to comfort or celebrate. My DH's home was similar, btw. No coincidence that both of them struggled with excess weight much earlier than I did, I think. Now, she tried desperately to "eat right" but it isn't easy when food is constantly there as a temptation and the environment
promotes deeply DISORDERED eating. Oh, sure, it would be fine if people ONLY ate because of "hunger." But they don't. I'm not convinced that we're programmed that way as a species, honestly. Food is about social activities and acceptance and comfort, and I think that may all be pretty hard-wired on some level. Even breastfed children will feed for comfort rather than hunger.
My DH and I both have genetics that mean that we ALWAYS struggle to keep our weight under control as adults. Not "ideal"--
under control. It's hard, hard work. For me, that is related to physical activity, which I dislike. For him? It's disordered eating. Weight management that needs hard work is almost certainly going to be DD's eventual reality, too, as thin as she is NOW (and she is). I feel absolutely
ill for kids that are already fighting like that when they are not even teenagers, because by the time they are my age?
Holy cow, the effort and time needed is going to be unimaginable-- it gets harder as you get older, frankly.
I just think it's phenomenal that educators REFUSE to see the connection between
a food SATURATED environment that encourages kids to eat continuously and to BINGE on high-sugar, high-fat treats regularly, and a greater and greater percentage of kids who are actually
obese. It's as though they are being willfully ignorant of reality itself, on some level.