Too Fat for 15
 

On the Style Network. Anyone gonna watch besides me?

Related article with video:
'Too Fat For 15' Documents Teens' Fight Against Obesity
by Nadine Cheung

http://www.jsyk.com/2010/07/29/too-f...ainst-obesity/
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.jsyk.com/...teen072810.jpg

Probably not, more because of time than anything, but I now feel bad for having the "All you can Eat in Vegas" show on in the background right now.

That boy is 15? His face doesn't look like he's over 10. Maybe it's just that particular photo.

That girl in the pink sweatshirt really isn't fat... Neither is the girl on the far left...
Those kinds of shows just make me sad. :(

Hideous airbrushing in that photo.

They are both overweight ("fat" just sounds mean).

Different perceptions of what overweight is, particularly in certain communities, is one reason why there is such an obesity problem. People need to consult medical advice including BMI and family history of issues such as diabetes instead of going based on people's opinions. I have seen some huge people in the Black community who are considered big boned, phat, or average (because everyone in their family or community is 50+ lbs overweight). It is really saddening and children are always going to mirror what the adults do, hence this show.

What's also interesting to me is how being overweight was a sign of wealth (or just nonpoverty) generations ago. It is now a sign of poverty and race disparities when looking at it based on population demographics; and it's a sign of an unhealthy and overfed industrialized nation when looking at the population at large (no pun intended).

Of course being drastically overweight can cause health problems, but I wish more attention was paid to healthy living in general. A person who is generally accepted to be thin or average can still be incredibly unhealthy. My metabolism started slowing down a couple of years ago and I finally started trying to eat right and exercise, but before that a doctor told me I was on the border for getting diabetes, my percentage fat was extremely high, and that I desperately needed to be doing cardio and quit the caffeine. I was 5'4" and around 105 pounds. Not skinny, but what I consider to be thin. Definitely not overweight. I'm about ten pounds heavier now with a much healthier percentage of that being muscle and my eating habits are (mostly) better, but I've got tons of friends that are probably just as unhealthy as I was two years ago, and they fit into a size 2. Point being you don't HAVE to be overweight to be incredibly unhealthy.

I hope these kids get a fair shake. Sometimes these shows are cruel in how they edit the footage.

Isn't that the truth. Google Lillian Russell - she was considered one of the most beautiful women in show business. Nowadays she'd be lucky to be Bea Arthur's stunt double, regardless of her acting chops.

Good point.

Painfully awesome corset.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Russell_II.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Russell_4.png

them superimposed on a grassy picture-esque background is uberfail.

And i wish i had cable to watch this.

truth.org/wordson

And look at the faces of the 2 Black girls in the back.


I hate that I went to truth.org.

WTF they made a triple stuffed Oreo out of these kids! Way to go PR/ad execs.

The two white kids have the same facial expression. The girl in the middle, her stance is so unnatural.

Plus, I'm pretty sure no teenager has tied a flannel shirt around their waist after 1995.

darn, i forget that truth.org is a real site, anti-smoking and all that.

I didn't say they weren't overweight, but I wouldn't really consider that "fat". And the show is called "Too Fat for 15". ;)
I wish these kids all the best, I hope they make some positive changes in their lives. Unfortunately I think a lot of these shows go too far and exercise some really unhealthy weight loss practices. Here's hoping it's not another one of those. :)

;)

Merriam-Webster:
fat
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): fat·ter; fat·test
1 : notable for having an unusual amount of fat: a : plump b : obese

I'm sure they are over 40% bodyfat and they are obese (which increases the likelihood of having high bodyfat, although smaller sized people can also have unusual amounts of bodyfat). If "fat" didn't sound so mean, I'd call them "fat." Perhaps they chose that show title because it gets more people's attention. :)

BMI can be very inaccurate for people who are extremely athletic, but for the rest of us it's a fairly useful indicator. A reading of 20% for adult women actually falls very solidly in the healthy range. 25.0-29.9 is an overweight range, and you are considered obese at 30. For a 15 year old girl 18-26 is the healthy range I believe, so 20% would be very healthy. These kids are certainly 26+.

You can get your BMI from an instant internet table, but for "thin" people your doctor can get a little more complicated. I don't remember exactly what my doctor did to determine my body fat was out of proportion, but it was extremely high though my weight was in fact very healthy. This is why thin people who do not eat well or exercise can be "fat".