Handing out fat letters instead of treats tonight?

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sabified
sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
in Chit-Chat
On the radio this morning, I heard that a woman (somewhere in the States, can't remember details) plans on only handing out halloween candies to select kids this year- the thin ones. She plans on handing the kids she deems to be overweight letters to give to their parents. The radio host read out the letter and it basically was an attempt to shame parents over their childs health. The letters stated something along the lines of "your kid is obese" and spoke about how it was their fault for allowing unhealthy habits and that they should moderate their kids' candy consumption this year.

When I heard it, my initial reaction was "thank you for handing out eating disorders to a future generation" and disgust at this woman for thinking she had the right to obtrude in these peoples lives. My opinion is that if she thinks there's a problem she should just not hand out candy. Who is she to decide if a child is unhealthy?? Again, I don't remember details, but what are the odds that she's a doctor? She doesn't know anything about these kids or what they'll grow up to be. How many people who are obese now started off thin? And how many chubby kids grew up to be thin? And frankly, thin =/= healthy anyway!

I love the debates/discussions on here and am wondering what everyone else thinks of this.
What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,641 Member
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    holy_repost.jpg
  • kjimmie4848
    kjimmie4848 Posts: 123 Member
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    I saw this on facebook this morning. Great theory, failure in execution.
  • shellma00
    shellma00 Posts: 1,684 Member
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    holy_repost.jpg

    :laugh: :laugh:
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    holy_repost.jpg

    Sorry, clearly I haven't been on the boards as much as you today... But here you go anyway :flowerforyou:

    Any other thoughts on this?
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    Let the eggings commence in... 3, 2, 1

    lol to me or that lady? I do hope she gets a lot of tricks thrown her way if she does this.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    Let the eggings commence in... 3, 2, 1

    lol to me or that lady? I do hope she gets a lot of tricks thrown her way if she does this.

    I'm sure she'll be powerwashing her house tomorrow!
  • shellma00
    shellma00 Posts: 1,684 Member
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    holy_repost.jpg

    Sorry, clearly I haven't been on the boards as much as you today... But here you go anyway :flowerforyou:

    Any other thoughts on this?

    Actually it was posted all day yesterday.. :flowerforyou: :drinker:
  • CountryGirl8542
    CountryGirl8542 Posts: 449 Member
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    I don't think candy is good for anyone.... fat or not... lol but so be it... its freaking Halloween!!!
  • AmyMgetsfit
    AmyMgetsfit Posts: 636 Member
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    I don't agree with her handling of this. Either everyone gets candy or everyone gets a toothbrush. I can't imagine a child getting that kind of letter while their friends get the candy. I think all the kids in her town should band together and wear pillows in their costumes tonight.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Well, this is the flip side to "It takes a village...."

    While it is not something I would ever do myself, it is her right to interact with her community as she deems appropriate. It's a damn brave thing to do, and that's respect-worthy.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    holy_repost.jpg

    Sorry, clearly I haven't been on the boards as much as you today... But here you go anyway :flowerforyou:

    Any other thoughts on this?

    Actually it was posted all day yesterday.. :flowerforyou: :drinker:

    well that clears it for me... Not on the boards at all yesterday... also explains why I didn't see it when I went thru the past 2 pages lol
  • Inner_Goddess
    Inner_Goddess Posts: 1,146 Member
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    It's not her right to scold the parents - how is she to know if there isn't a medical condition causing a child to be overweight? Does she practice medicine? I think it's wrong. Personally, I'm aware that the problem exists - I have family members with overweight children. I don't get on the parents or the kids, it's not my place, but when the children are with me, I make sure that they eat the same as my own kids do and I make sure that they get exercise.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    Well, this is the flip side to "It takes a village...."

    While it is not something I would ever do myself, it is her right to interact with her community as she deems appropriate. It's a damn brave thing to do, and that's respect-worthy.

    I don't think it's brave of her... I think she's sharing her opinion where it's not really warrented, which is something a lot of people do nowadays (*ahem*notmeofcourse*ahem*). I think this comes more from how we all feel like "special lil snowflakes" and that our opinions are all-important.

    I've heard the argument that "obesity is taxing on health care" but is shaming people over their kids the way to handle it?
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    It's not her right to scold the parents - how is she to know if there isn't a medical condition causing a child to be overweight? Does she practice medicine? I think it's wrong. Personally, I'm aware that the problem exists - I have family members with overweight children. I don't get on the parents or the kids, it's not my place, but when the children are with me, I make sure that they eat the same as my own kids do and I make sure that they get exercise.

    lol, on another note, I had an uncle who used to force all the kids to go out to a field and run laps when we went to their place. We stopped going there.

    But that was more because he was a competitive freak and couldn't handle that we were "smarter than his kids" (but didn't care that we were a good 3 years older than his oldest)...
  • nitaleotta
    nitaleotta Posts: 24 Member
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    I don't think it's brave of her... I think she's sharing her opinion where it's not really warrented, which is something a lot of people do nowadays (*ahem*notmeofcourse*ahem*). I think this comes more from how we all feel like "special lil snowflakes" and that our opinions are all-important.

    I completely agree. It's unlikely this woman's actions will cause anything but anger and defensiveness.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    It's since come out that this was a hoax.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    It's since come out that this was a hoax.

    lol good to know... or maybe she got scared of the crazy backlash I'm sure she faced... either way, hope this doesn't actually happen. I think it'd be better for people to just not hand out candy than this. When I was younger I remember getting toys and comics too (my first Sonic and Archie comics were from Halloween :smile: ).

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