Staples in my stomach? I'd rather not. The number of CHILDREN going under the knife in order to lose weight is astounding. The media turns society against weight and any image that is not fabricated by them, and looking in on the situation from outside, it's not so pretty. The pre-fab image that's instilled in so many people's minds of the greatest body or most pleasant face is absolutely ridiculous and not a form of entertainment. Personally, I am not the pitying type, however, I do pity those children who feel like the only way to lose weight is through surgery. No, I'm not going to pin it on irresponsible parents, though it is part of the problem, I'm pinning it on the controlled mass media that spoon-feeds the public one dort of altered images of the human body.
"More obese kids are turning to stomach-stapling surgeries and diet drugs. Are these trendy adult treatments the healthiest choice?
At age 15, Charlie Fabrikant opted for the knife. Gastric bypass surgery was about the only thing the suburban Chicago teen hadn't yet tried, to lose some of the 350 pounds that were literally making him sick.
"Joint pain was a killer," says Fabrikant, who loves sports but found that "every time I'd try to play, I'd really hurt." Severe heartburn plagued his days, and at night, "I'd wake up gasping for breath because of sleep apnea."
The unrelenting physical effects of the weight pressing down on his bones, stomach, and lungs was compounded by the mounting depression of always being the fat "outsider," an ache that had him returning to food for comfort. "I've been on diets since third grade," Fabrikant says, including hospital supervised diets, Weight Watchers, and diet drugs such as Meridia, the antidepressant Wellbutrin, and the epilepsy drug Topimax. "I'd lose a few pounds each time, but then I'd gain back more.""--By Helen Cordes, AlterNet. Posted January 19, 2005.
I say blame it all on the irresponsibility of the parents--it could be labeled as a disease!
A 15 year old who is 350 pounds is not only sickening, but very, very sad. Sometimes they have just gotten so badly obese that they can no longer lose that initial weight by exercise.
Plus, I don't think they are getting their stomachs stapled and all that solely due to mass media spood-fed tabloids of skimpy clothed rich and famous...it, on the most part, has to do with pre-diabetes.
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity--and I'm not so sure about the universe"
-Albert Einstein
just broke my heart. It really did. I just wanna give him a hug. ;( I don't think it's fair, however, to put all the blame on parents nor all the blame on the media. Several factors are the cause for things like this. I think we need to remember that in extreme cases like Charlie's, the parents suffer and go through too.
Who are the ones that fed him?? He sure as hell couldn't have gotten all that food from trading carrot sticks during recess at school.
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity--and I'm not so sure about the universe"
-Albert Einstein
He's 15, not 5. How do YOU know his parents feed him pies all day? Don't assume what you don't know. Regardless, it is still foolish to put all your eggs in one basket. I knew when I was 12 too many snacks and not enough exercise is unhealthy. He has to take some responsibility too.
He is 15 now, but to quote the article;
"I've been on diets since third grade," Fabrikant says
In the third grade I used to get treats such cake and lollies for doing well at school. I actually associate those things with success. It is more than probable that the child's weight at that age was entirely due to the associations he had with food. Upset? eat something, Happy? eat something. These reactions are well ingrained in a lot of children by the third grade and unhealthy eating patterns, predominently caused by parents, last a life time.
There is a genetic factor though. My eldest daughter could eat until she literally burst at the seems and not put on a single kilo. My youngest daughter just needs to smell food cooking and the weight begins to pile on. Fed exactly the same things in exactly the same quantities my eldest would lose weight and my youngest gain.
The only solution for my youngest daughter's health was a reasonably strict low carb diet and plenty of exercise. Even then, that in it self has taught her some unhealthy eating habits. With genetics as a factor even when you do the right thing you do the wrong thing.
As a parent I acknowledge that it is difficult to make a child eat the right things all the time. As a working, single parent I acknowledge it is difficult to even find the time to buy healthy ingredients let alone prepare and cook healthy meals, but parents who love their kids must make the effort.
The huge marketing budgets of junk food companies just makes the job so much more difficult.
At the end of the day the majority of the weight issues in people under the age of 15 comes almost directly down on the heads of parents for taking the easiest possible route to feed their children.
Cathii
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Those who know everything have learned little from life.
I fail to see how the mass media caused this.
Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of people blaming the media for weight problems. It's ludicrous. The media is not telling anyone what to look like or how big they should be. Peoples' low self-esteem, lack of self-image and self-worth does that.
That has nothing to do with the media.
And for this particular case, come on! The boy was 350 pounds, not exactly anorexic. Other diets including doctor monitored diets weren't working. He was in physical pain. And you're going to try to blame the media for his choosing to undergo this surgery?
Please...
Did you read the story in it's entirety before pasting it up and writing your commentary?
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
the media's portrayal of the ideal beauty does not have an affect on society in some way? Read Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, if you haven't. I beg to differ. Society CAN affect a person's self esteem and self worth, the very reasons you say are the cause for his problems.
I'm not saying that it's the ONLY reason, or even that it's the biggest factor, but to ignore the fact that it DOES impact us, whether a person is anorexic or overweight/obese, is ignorant.
I believe the people see in the media what they want to see; which in this particular example is the argument that the media is pushing for a "thin America".
People who want to blame the media will see it in the media.
But, as someone from the opposite end of the spectrum, who was severely underweight for most of her life, I found something very different coming from the media.
Men like women with a little meat on their bones is an example of just one of the things I saw in the media (movies, television). The shows I watched growing up, the omwen who made the money in these shows, or ran the household, or got the man of their dreams, they weren't anorexic models. They were healthy size 6-8 or larger (Suzanne Summers, Oprah, Roseanne, Shelley Long, The girl on Frasier, Julia Dreyfus). A lot of singers were also of healthier size, and models were not anorexic then.
I watch today, and I see the same basic ratio of healthy weighing women on television.
Not to mention the fact that when someone in the limelight does suddenly reach an unhealthy weight, the media ridicules and tears them apart. The Olsen Girl, Callista Flockheart, Tracey Gold, Nicole Richie...
People look because their parents said "oh the media is influencing them" and then they see it in the media regardless if it's there or not. If they want to blame the media, they will do so.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
just about weight. It's about image. Breast, thighs, toned, tanned, pale, whatever. And when it DOES come to weight, I was not talking about anorexic thin people in the media, God no. However, except for people like Oprah and Roseanne, the women you mentioned were still THIN. Healthy yes, but thin or slender. So heavier people are STILL bombarded with "thin" images. Suzanne did those exercise infomercial things for cryin' out loud! And Oprah was always ridiculed whenever she gained weight (ooo look Ophrah looks like she's put on 15 lbs. can't she learn to stay ON the diet???). I can't speak for Roseanne, because I don't know too much of her career, but all I have to say is: Rosie O'Donnell.
Bad examples Fan, bad.
Either way, my point was media affects us. It affected you didn't it? Probably so because you implied it.
So I rest my case.
Actually, what I said was that I saw different messages coming from the media. I never meant to imply that those images affected me.
But regardless, even if you are completely right about this and I am wacky (which is a notion that I am willing to admit is possible), the media would not be a problem if children were taught before adolescence about healthy images and self-esteem.
However, my only point was that people will see in the media what they are told to look for, or (more appropriately) to "look out" for.
As far as Oprah being ridicules for gaining weight, that's news to me. I never heard any jokes about her gaining weight; and the commercials Suzanne did were more for toning rather than losing weight.
However, while I was growing up, every time someone was sick with anorexia, someone (either a news caster or the parents or the teachers) blamed the media. So I am sorry if I misunderstood you on that point.
And perhaps they weren't the best examples, but those women were the ones who were the main "role models" while I was growing up (I am 30, so they are dated examples) and I heard the same things then in school, that the media was pushing our teenagers into anorexia.
I just don't believe that this type of pressure comes from the media. At least, not by itself. The idea gets planted elsewhere and starts to grow from another origin point.
If someone were taught a healthy self-image and grew up with good self-esteem, then no amount of "bombardment" of thin images from the media would be able to degrade that.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
"the media would not be a problem if children were taught before adolescence about healthy images and self-esteem."
I agree wholeheartedly (sort of, lol, see last comment).
"As far as Oprah being ridicules for gaining weight, that's news to me. I never heard any jokes about her gaining weight;"
Really? Well I'm only 20, and I still remember the reports about her weight. Mind you, I didn't mean to imply that they joked about Oprah the same way they joke about Rosie. However, her weight issues were always a big spectacle (not to imply that it made the news every night...like Anna Nicole..ugh, but it WAS well reported on). And I've since seen documentaries since then about how much of a ridiculous farce it was (the media and her weight). It's bad enough being in the spotlight all the time (although we both know she CHOSE to do what she does). Imagine being a woman and always having how much fat is on your body talked about. :P
"and the commercials Suzanne did were more for toning rather than losing weight."
Eh, same diff. Have you ever seen a fat toned person? lol It's still about body image. You can't have a little flab hanging off, even if you ARE at a decent weight. *rolls eyes* Like I said, it's not necessarily about big or thin; it's about the entire package.
"I just don't believe that this type of pressure comes from the media. At least, not by itself. The idea gets planted elsewhere and starts to grow from another origin point."
Well I've never believed it comes from the media alone. Like I told the other girl, it's foolish to put all your eggs in one basket. I don't necessarily think the media is the seed (although I wouldn't be surprised if in SOME instances [SOME] it is), but I most definitely have seen (and experienced) the effects it can have.
"If someone were taught a healthy self-image and grew up with good self-esteem, then no amount of "bombardment" of thin images from the media would be able to degrade that."
Hmm, well I don't know that that's necessarily true. However I DO believe that a person would be much harder to penetrate. I do think that in some cases, some people would crack under the pressure (unless perhaps, they were still surrounded by positivity). But I think for many people, they get to the high school age, where for most teens, their parents aren't around as much, and they're surrounded by fools just like them. I think it can begin to have more of an impact. That's not to say that pale Jenny will all of a sudden think she needs to tan to get a guy, or that Joe Schmoe will think he needs to gain some muscle to be thought of as a "man" by his friends, but I think that on some level, a person will always be affected by something they are bombarded with, whether negative or positive. Whether it actually affects them to the point of extreme change (whether negative or positive) all depends on the individual.
Ugh, body image/self esteem/mediais such a weasly little devil. Even when you think it's not affecting you, it is. I could talk about soooo many things, but this post is long enough as it is, lol. Sorry bout that.
:)
At any rate, I still don't see the media as being a factor in this child's decision to undergo surgery.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Me either really, I was just talking about the media in general, lol.
Classic :) So we're arguing the same points, err, well, kinda... :)
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Yes, what Fanile (sp?) said. I'm tired, so I think she articulated it better than I could after waking up at 5am and working all day.
"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity--and I'm not so sure about the universe"
-Albert Einstein
I hear you, but I got a bit more sleep than you, LOL. I got to wake up at 5:30... :)
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Instead of going under the knife, I think people should do some research on the Internet on what can help them lose weight because that's another way I lost weight- I did research on drinking milk and water with the foods I eat.
As a parent--this is what I have to say. I think the one thing that may be being left out in the above commnts is that pesky little thing in our children called a "PERSONALITY" You can raise 2 children exactly alike, but it doesn't mean they are going to respond nor grow up in the same way. SO on one hand I can say my parenting is highly to blame for my children being of a good healthy weight (not anorexic skinny and not over weight) That I have ingrained in them the importance of health and eating good. On the other hand, I have one daughter who is always saying she is fat (let me tell you she is only 11 and only weighs 80 lbs) she has a father who tells her he doesn't know what he'd do if she got fat he thinks he might shoot himself (exact words) and she is always pointing out the pictures, whether it's on t.v. or in a magazine (they really are the worst)and tells me she'll do "anything" to look like that. It is a comstant battle trying to educate her about the fakeness of those pictures and she is beautiful the way she is and would be beautiful even if she got a little overweight, don't get me wrong, I do not encourage her to be unhealthy-- actually quite the opposite. BUt as you could conclude from my rambling on it is the parents, it is the media, and it is each individual childs personality. For example, are they easily influenced, do the try to please everyone, ect ect. And the key point here is I have raised my children the same, with the same values and I don't have this problem with my other daughter. Boy oh boy, i hope that made sense.
Ceila
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ceila30
http://www.progressiveu.org/160156-facing-same-sex-marriage
"He's 15, not 5. How do YOU know his parents feed him pies all day?"
GREAT comment.
Insert Shameless Self-Promotion Here -- http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ada-castellon
But it's true. I hate when people act like "Oh they're bad parents it's their fault" like the kid is force fed cakes, soda and cookies 24/7 or something.