More of Me to Love | Community Forum

NAAFA takes on the bullying of fat kids

2011-08-09T13:02:02Z

I wrote a piece on Psychology Today yesterday about the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2011 and the omission of height/weight as a protected category. I chose to post it yesterday because NAAFA held a press conference yesterday in Washington, DC calling on Congress to recognize both how much this omission is going to endanger children and how much the current emphasis on “childhood obesity” is adding to this problem.

I was bullied several times in school even before I was fat because I was an easy target. I was a crier, not a fighter. But interestingly enough, even when I was skinny, my named rhymed with “fatty” and so I got called “fatty pattie” as a way to make me feel bad. So even kids who are not fat are often teased with the threat of being seen as fat.

I was fat as a tweenager and a teenager and I suffered greatly from social stigma. I spent a lot of time trying to be thinner and each time it made me sicker. This is why I think it’s important to protect fat kids from abusive bullying by peers, teachers and their government.

NAAFA’s website has some important ways to actively work towards this goal.

Paul Campos Calls Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign Invidious Bullying of Fat Kids

2011-03-16T13:20:10Z

I’m not sure that this is the right place for such a post but considering that those who were bullied as fat kids want to see bullying stopped against fat kids today, it seemed appropriate.

In a recent post in the Daily Beast, renowned Size Acceptance author and advocate Paul Campos discussed the way that Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign is actually harming fat kids and entrenching bullying as acceptable.

It’s an excellent case and what we’ve been saying at More of Me to Love for a while.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-16/michelle-obamas-childhood-obesity-lets-move-campaign-helps-bullies/?cid=hp:mainpromo7#

Always big….

2010-12-29T10:55:23Z

I was born with a belly. I weighed 6 lbs 2 ounces at birth. I swear at least 3 of those pounds was in my belly. :( I have dealt with negativity in regards to my size all my life. Being sexually abused & bullied in school did not help matters either.
I turned to food as a source of comfort. Food didn’t judge me, laugh at me, or make me want to kill myself. Children & adults did. I was suicidal for years, mainly because of my size & the way I was treated because of it. I’m still bad in some regards, although thankfully I’m not as quick to think that I’d be better off dead. I know I’m big, I know that I should lose a few for health reasons…. I just want friends, family, & a special someone who will ACCEPT me just as I am. Won’t expect me to change, to lose weight or become someone I’m not to make THEM more COMFORTABLE!
I’m 38 years old, never been married, only had 2 men in my life. Took me years to figure out that NOT wanting to be seen in public with me wasn’t NORMAL! I deserve so much better than I have gotten so far, from society, family members, & myself. I’m fine with who I am & my size when I’m alone, or talking to friends online…. It’s when I am out in public, watching people react to me that I get the self loathing come into play.

Anyone know how to end that…... I would really like to get to the point where I don’t care what others think of me. :((

Kids made fun of me.

2009-03-31T20:00:53Z

I’d like to share this w/ the group.

I’m in clinic with a young 9 y/o boy recently diagnosed w/ ADHD (not surprising). Everything goes smoothly until the boy talks about losing weight. He talks about starting a diet because THE KIDS MAKES FUN OF HIM. He doesn’t want to be fat” anymore.

He’s only 9 years old!

Now this is the sweetest ADHD kid I’ve ever seen. Do I think of him as fat? No, I thought of him as a healthy well-nourished 9 y/o boy. If elementary school kids are discussing diet plans for weight loss, then what’s next? Weight-watchers for toddlers??!

Thoughts?

Harriet Brown on Michelle Obama’s Problematic Childhood Obesity Mission

2010-06-02T10:58:19Z

I’ve had problems with Michelle Obama’s anti-Childhood Obesity campaign for a while, not because I don’t think it’s good for fat kids to exercise and eat well, but because I think making that point not only excludes all other kids who aren’t fat, but it further stigmatizes fat kids and can lead to real problems for them health-wise.

This Huffington Post article by Harriet Brown does a great job articulating exactly what the problems are and what programs like this do to fat kids.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harriet-brown/where-the-fight-against-c_b_596577.html

What’d you think?