Teenage Obesity
We all notice it. All you have to do is stand outside the Ojai Playhouse before/after the show to see the bulges and the pudges. Kids and teens are bursting at the seams. The LA Times was brave enough to confront the issue in a recent article (shout out to edhat.com for highlighting the story), specifically pointing out the distorted body images of teenage girls. Not that they are any fatter than teen boys; these girls are just unwilling to hide it or own up to it. My husband refers to the phenomenon as the "broken can of biscuits." The Times is less kind, but dead-on in their assessment:
The Sausage Casing Girls are everywhere this summer, their muffin tops hanging over their hip-skimming jeans, clothes shrink-wrapped around fleshy bodies that look as if they've been stuffed — like forcemeat — into teensy tops and skintight pants.
Visit the local mall, any beach boardwalk or the sidewalk in front of your neighborhood high school and you will see why healthcare professionals are so alarmed about expanding waistlines. And while chunky teen boys and young men hide in cartoonishly large basketball jerseys over big T-shirts and elephant-legged shorts, girls generally do not. They may be getting bigger, but their clothes are getting smaller.
Read on...
It's one thing to coddle girls into loving their bodies, big as they may be. But it's another to plunge them into denial and allow them to live sedentary lives on the couch with a bucket of KFC and a wardrobe that's too small and wholly inappropriate, even for those who make an effort to maintain a healthy weight. More from the Times:
Advice columnist Jessica Weiner, author of "A Very Hungry Girl," believes that girls are at the mercy of several forces: the oversexualization of teen girl clothing, peer pressure and relentless messages about self-esteem. Plus, said Weiner, the "image diet" they are on contributes to a distorted body image: They don't see anyone who looks like them on TV, in movies, in ads, or in fashion spreads. "It's like a cocktail for disaster," said Weiner, 32, who suffered from eating disorders in her teens.
The result of computer games, uber fashion and fast food colliding mercilessly?
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Comments (5)
Do kids play outside like they used to? When I was growing up we were always outside in our culdesac, playing baseball, catching lizards and snakes, riding our bikes. Or walking down to the neighborhood pool. Now, is it TV, video games, IM and email to the detriment of exercise?
Processed foods like McDonalds, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola and Red Hot Cheetos certainly don't help - Supersize Me and Fast Food Nation should be required media.
Comment #1 Posted by: Tyler | July 5, 2006 03:26 PM
Haven't set foot in Mickey D's or the other junk since FF Nation 3+ years ago. Prior to that I only cruised the place maybe once a month, not daily as some of their consumers do. Now whose fault is that?
Comment #2 Posted by: Lisa Snider | July 5, 2006 03:39 PM
Food in this country is so tied up with marketing and money. Did you know that companies (Kelloggs, Coca Cola etc.) dictate where their products are placed in the grocery store? Ever wonder why Captain Crunch is at eye level for a seven year old but the "good for you" cereals are up high? Marketing dollars, my friends. And most of us know that our schools, dreadfully underfunded by the state) are looking elsewhere for funding. And who is stepping up to the plate but soft drink companies. Schools get a new gym or cafeteria just for having Coke or Pepsi for sale in the building. The catch? Bonuses for higher sales, so they advertise advertise advertise in the halls, locker rooms and bathrooms. Marion Nestle's book Food Politics is a little dry at times but she covers lots of these issues in depth. You can Google her. What I'm saying is that fast food restaurants are huge factors, but this stuff is everywhere! Cross-marketing with movies and TV shows keeps it ever-present in our minds (and our children's). And yes, most of kids' time these days is spent indoors (do you have any idea how much homework 2nd graders get these days?) and in front of a machine. Pick-up kickball in the street is a think of the past for most families.
Comment #3 Posted by: Heather | July 5, 2006 07:38 PM
ya,
it's gettin wurst und wurst!
das karma snitzel encompassen das planeten.
deutschland's citizenry 'served' a 45 year sentence for their government/industry crimes against humanity!
looks like El Norte and the Multinational Weiner State will be tortured/incarcerated in a much deeper 'underworld' of caste.
ich bin ein anderer gefangener ...
millennium
Comment #4 Posted by: Millennium Twain | July 8, 2006 06:05 PM
I submit that what we are seeing is a trend that has been going on for quite a while. If one looks at the neuro-bio-psycho-social connections, then one may begin to see the mazes within mazes.
Anyway, there's a lot of information out there. I shall contribute one piece of nutrition for those maze and puzzle lovers!
The stomach/gut houses 90% of the neuroreceptors for seratonin. Ask any good psychaiatrist and they will confirm this.
In conclusion, in my opinion, what we are seeing is an attempt to self regulate the human condition of suffering. Specifically: emotional pain. The advertising complex expertly funnels the cattle of spectators, playing on fears, keeping us distracted with pipedreams, carrots and rabbits. All the while, a beautiful world remains just on the other side of the wall...
Comment #5 Posted by: Michael Didj | July 10, 2006 02:12 PM