Fat parents = fat kids?

It is very rare that I will use the ‘f’ word ‘FAT’. It’s not very PC in the world of diet and exercise and one that often causes offence. It’s a word we use on ourselves but not one we like people to use to describe us.

So how about ‘obese’? That is a much more offensive word, in my opinion, and one that we would never use to describe ourselves yet it is a word used every day in the media and by medical professionals. By way of definition, if you are about three stone overweight, you are probably obese.

So, whilst we are all only too ready to describe ourselves as ‘fat’, if someone describes us as ‘chunky’, ‘well built’, or ‘a bit overweight’ we take great offence. In fact I remember going for a medical when I was about 20 years old and considering taking out a life insurance policy. When the doctor left the room for around 20 minutes I couldn’t resist the temptation to read his notes detailing my medical status. He described me as ‘well covered’. I was deeply hurt. ‘That means I’m fat!’ I thought to myself. At the time I weighed 8st and was 5’ 2” tall – a very healthy weight – yet that remark switched a switch in my head that made me very conscious of food and over the next two or three years I gained two-and-a-half stone!

Whilst part of me is grateful to the doctor, for without gaining the weight and learning how to lose it again, I would not be in the situation I am in now, of helping people to get in shape with a healthy diet and exercise, but nevertheless, his words had a profound effect on my life and how I felt about myself.

So when the media talk about overweight parents being much more likely to produce overweight children, there will be some kids out there who are now seriously worried about their size. For some that may be completely counter-productive, as it was in my case. And it is for precisely that reason that we started Kids2 which helps to educate parents and children together toward a healthier lifestyle, irrespective of their size. Instead of making the children feel guilty, we should be encouraging children to eat healthier food and for the whole family to be more active.