I hate having to be an activist

[firecat]

I received an email advertising my town's activities guide and I was
angered to discover an introductory message from the Parks and
Recreation Director labeled "Childhood Obesity - Problem & Solutions".

I send him an email as follows. If anyone is willing to provide me with
references to back up my points or to challenge his statements, I would
welcome them, in case he decides to respond to me. You could also reply
to the email message yourself, using the email address provided, but it
might not mean much if you don't live in San Carlos, California.


bweiss@cityofsancarlos.org

Dear Mr Weiss,

I'm disappointed that you uncritically parrot the rhetoric of the
multimillion dollar diet industry in your "Childhood Obesity - Problems
and Solutions" letter in the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Department
Activity Guide. In the future, please familiarize yourself with more of
the research in this controversial field before repeating fear-mongering
statements such as "children born today have a shorter life expectancy
than their parents."

The life expectancy of people in the US has done nothing but rise
throughout the history of our country (just as our height *and* weight
have continued to rise, due to improvements in nutrition and health
care), and it's sheer statistical nonsense to claim that the trend will
suddenly reverse with the next generation.

It's fine to encourage children to engage in physical activity and teach
them about sound nutritional practices, but doing so in the name of
"obesity prevention" sends the wrong message that weight is more
important to health than physical fitness, nutritional choices, and
other elements that make up a healthy lifestyle. It tells our youth that
thin children (and adults) don't have to exercise or eat well to
maximize their health, all they have to do is be thin.

Studies that control for fitness level and not just for body size show
that fitness cannot be determined by a person's body size because
exercise and good nutrition do not automatically make a person thin, and
fitness and activity level is a much better measure of health and
longevity than body size.

Society puts tremendous pressure on children to be thin and one of the
results is that some young people, especially young women and girls,
struggle with dangerous anorexia and bulemia disorders. Why add to this
pressure when you can simply encourage physical activity and good eating
for everyone? Scientists studying body composition, nutrition, and
physical activity probably need to play up the so-called "obesity
epidemic" in order to get funding for their research, but surely San
Carlos taxpayers are more enlightened than that and will fund physical
activity programs and healthy snack programs for the youth center
without the scare-mongering.

*Providing* healthy snacks and opportunities for movement is great.
*Forcing* children, in the name of "obesity prevention," to engage in
competitive cardiovascular activity runs the risk of socially isolating
larger children who may be subject to teasing and rejection in the
context of competitive sports. Social isolation will cut down on these
children's opportunities for physical activity and limit them in other
undesirable ways.

Stef Jones
1372 Rosewood Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070

===
The pdf of the activity guide is available here:
http://www.cityofsancarlos.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=3272

This is the introductory message:

Childhood Obesity - Problem & Solutions

For the first time in history, children born today have a shorter life
expectancy than their parents (Dr. Kelly Brownell, Yale University).
Children spend about 44 hours a week on "recreational" media use (Kaiser
Family Foundation Study). Within California, 26.5% of our children are
obese and 39.6% are unfit/overweight. 50% of obese adolescents become
obese adults, putting them at a much higher risk for heart disease,
cancer, stroke and diabetes later in life. Obesity costs California an
estimated $14.2 Billion a year in direct medical costs and lost
productivity (California Center for Public Health Advocacy).

San Carlos Parks & Recreation is excited to be a leader in addressing
this community issue. Your Youth Center is one Parks & Recreation
facility that successfully focuses on health and wellness programming.

* In 2003, the Youth Center embarked on a nutrition and fitness
challenge. All snacks in vending machines were analyzed and those not
meeting our nutrition guidelines were removed and replaced with
healthier options. All snacks now follow the SB 12 and SB 965 standards
for schools. All vendors must now comply with our nutrition guidelines
for healthier options.

* For every hour a Youth Center participant is in attendance and playing
a sedentary game or engaged in the Homework/Computer Lab, he or she must
complete at least 10 minutes of cardiovascular activity. Engaging
cardiovascular activities were identified and implemented including
"Dance Revolution," a cardio building video game, and Dodgeball.

* In 2004, the Sequoia Hospital Health and Wellness Department provided
a Certified Nutritionist to train Youth Center staff in dietary
guidelines, portion sizes, balanced diet, fat intake, the importance of
protein, and fruit and vegetable intake. Through a generous grant from
the Gellert Foundation, staff and participants created a cookbook for
teens utilizing the knowledge gained.

* A list of healthy snacks and lunch options is provided to Day Camp
participants and parents. We make a similar list available to any camp
providers who desire a copy. Classes are offered in nutrition, physical
activities, and community programs.

We have fascinating nutrition and engaging physical activity programs
for all ages -- tots, youth, adults, seniors -- everyone! Please take a
look through this Activity Guide and select a health and wellness
program for yourself and your entire family.

Creating Community through People, Parks & Programs,
Barry E. Weiss, Director
San Carlos Parks & Recreation

The part where I hate being an activist is the part about how I now feel
like [insert all sorts of negative things here] because I sent that.
Even though I know it's needed. I don't know why I feel that way.

Comments

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

You, of course, rock.

My own personal [negative thing] is that when I fight fat-hatred, I assume (perhaps wrongly) that the person on the receiving end of my correction will just assume (wrongly) that I'm only grasping for rationalization for my being fat/lazy/whatever, and that if I were thin, I wouldn't be dinging them for their bigotry.

[firecat]

Thanks.

That's part of it, but I feel almost equally uncomfortable about other kinds of activism, including activism about bigotries that aren't about me at all, so it's not all of it.

[loracs.livejournal.com]

So glad you sent that letter. I will tell you from the inside of a Parks and Recreation department, everything is about kids, kids, kids and the last few years every meeting makes some comment about the obesity issue and how "we" are helping children to get thin. When it has been mentioned in a forum that allows for responses, I try to insert corrections to keep the discuss more focused on "all children" instead of "obese children", but that doesn't feel like enough. I know it's more my imagination, but during these times I feel like I'm under a spotlight, even if I haven't said anything yet. I guess this is one more reason why getting out of parks and rec. (in this I mean the larger organization and not the little section of the arts I worked in) and going over to the geek side of the city in the IT department will be a good thing - at least for me.
Keep up the good work, we never know who might "hear" what we say and take another look at how they're doing business.

[brooksmoses]

The part where I hate being an activist is the part about how I now feel
like [insert all sorts of negative things here] because I sent that.
Even though I know it's needed. I don't know why I feel that way.

Seems that a large part of why you feel that way is likely to be because it's needed. The whole oppressive concept you're fighting against has made it not-okay to stand up for "being fat", and one of the things about wrestling a pig -- about facing something like this seriously and engaging with it enough to make a reasonable reply that has a chance of being listened to -- is that you get the mud on you.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Well, there has to be *some* way for people to tell us apart. :-)

[sagittaria.livejournal.com]

Is it because you feel you're being strident, and "good girls" shouldn't be forceful and assertive? Because some people might call those women "bitches"?

[firecat]

Thank you very much. I'm glad to see that inside perspective.

[firecat]

Thanks. I guess it's the "fighting against" that's problematic for me. I don't feel [negative things] when I do forms of activism involving talking to open-minded people or providing information on the web, for example.

[firecat]

Yes, I have a strong discomfort about being strident. Not always, but it comes out more among people I don't know very well. I'm sure it has something to do with gendered upbringing. It seems more extreme for me than for a lot of people I know, and I'm not sure why that is.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Yeesh. I'm glad you do the activism even when it's uncomfortable.

The part about *forcing* kids who come to the rec centre for sedentary pursuits to do active stuff too is particularly insidious. Basically, it means that they're driving kids away from the rec centre and making the rec centre a sports-only place. When in fact, it's probably socially better to have kids at the same place doing a whole range of activities.

Do you think the staff abides by that "10-minutes-cardio" thing? Is it actually healthy for someone to leap out of a chair and play DDR for 10 minutes without warmup/cooldown?

Also, how can credible research predict life expectancy for a child born today?

[brooksmoses]

Eek. I hadn't noticed that. I agree, that does seem rather insidious.

[sagittaria.livejournal.com]

Same here. I also tend to "shut down" when anger is directed at me, which is probably related.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Although people do it the other way too. I was just reading about some program for boys where they get to play basketball and then they have to work with literacy tutors in between games. It never occurred to me to wonder whether it was driving kids away from the basketball; I just thought it was like church-league sports where they used to have some bible study thing afterwards.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

And this is why I admire the hell out of you. This kind of stuff makes you feel icky, and _you do it anyway_, because it needs to be done.

That's true courage, and I salute you.

[brooksmoses]

FWIW, I've got it too.

Not that that means it doesn't have something to do with gendered upbringing in your case; I'm just datapointing.

[firecat]

I sometimes shut down and sometimes go all analytical.

[firecat]

I think there might also be cultural elements for me - there's a lot of indirect communication in my culture of origin, not much disagreement/debate.

[firecat]

Thanks.

Knowing what little I know about rec centers, I doubt the 10 minutes of cardio thing is enforced consistently, and DDR can be played very slowly and low-impact (to the point where it really isn't even a cardio activity for most people). So I don't think it's dangerous. But the whole idea just really sticks in my craw.

And credible research CANNOT predict life expectancy for a child born today - unless to say that life expectancy will continue to rise, since that's been the trend for decades if not centuries. The analysis used to produce that bit of BS is sheer fear-mongering. On the Health at Every Size mailing list I read, the statement was thoroughly debunked by Real Live Scientists. ;-)

[firecat]

Thank you. If it felt less icky I might do it more often, and sometimes I feel bad about that, but it's true that I do do it sometimes.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I also wanted to know whether the staff did it themselves. Because I'm guessing they don't, and that's hypocritical.

When my younger sibs were in elementary school, one year they did this "fitness run" thing. Every single day, everyone in the school including the secretary, the principal, and the fat teachers ran or walked around the perimeter of the schoolyard once at the end of the day. I was impressed that they had gotten enough buy-in from the teachers that they all put on running shoes over their pantyhose and did the distance with the kids.

[firecat]

Yeah, I don't know if the staff do it. That's another reason I dislike "childhood obesity" as an attention getter, it implies not only that thinness = health but also that health only matters for children, so it increases the separation between adults and children.

I guess the school in question didn't have any students or teachers disabled in such a way that they couldn't walk or run around the perimeter of the schoolyard.

[mistdog.livejournal.com]

credible research CANNOT predict life expectancy for a child born today

Sure it can. Life expectancy isn't something real, it's just statistics. A prediction based on current understanding of the facts about population averages. But having a life expectancy of 70 doesn't guarantee you a lifespan of 70 years even if you're perfectly average in every way; it's just a statistical estimate.

unless to say that life expectancy will continue to rise, since that's been the trend

I'm afraid that's both unscientific (the past doesn't prove anything about the future) and wrong, since life expectancy has been dropping for over 10 years in some parts of the world, such as sub-saharan Africa and most of the former USSR. Also if global climate change continues at the current rate, that could well impact on life expectancy everywhere.

Might be a good idea to get those real scientists (ones who know the research on this area, unlike me) to give you a citation to put in your letter, if you haven't already sent it; after all the text you reproduced cited a Yale academic. It's always best to fight research with research.

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

That's a great letter. I just linked to a study in a comment in my most recent post about Linda Bacon's study about how self acceptance is much more effective for long term health outcomes than dieting, and the books of Glenn Gaesser and Paul Campos like a good source for back up on the mortality stats you cite -- or google should find you those studies, too.

And, seriously: fat kids and dodgeball? I can sure remember that getting awfully mean...

Praise, for sure, for moving on this despite your hard feelings about doing it. It's a gift that you took action, no matter what happens next.

[necturus.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is, I think, a simplistic assumption that weight correlates with health.

I do think there's a potential health issue in kids being cooped up indoors by parents obsessed with the notion that there's a child molester hiding behind every bush. When I was a kid I was encouraged to go outside and play; I did a lot of walking and rode all over town on my bicycle. I rarely see kids out playing in my neighborhood today; they're not even allowed to walk to school.

It seems to me the media almost always overreact, and in doing so cause more problems than they cure.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this.

I've been meaning to make a long post about how early the weight obsession starts - how many people make approving comments when they find out that Alex is underweight, and how much fatphobia contaminates advice given to parents of underweight kids. It makes me so furious.