It is entitled "Fat Chance" and begins "Parents are struggling to get kids off the couch - and the computer - and into a more healthy lifestyle. But help is at hand..."

Its apparent aim is to encourage parents to take more interest in their children's eating and activity habits to "prevent the obesity epidemic being passed on to the next generation."

The unspoken message, portrayed so powerfully through the illustration, is that to "let" your child become obese (by allowing him to spend too much time at the computer) is tantamount to creating a dribbling apology of a child with unattractive, ill fitting clothing. If you look closely at the reprint below, you can see clearly the dribble of saliva dropping from this boy's lip, while his tongue protrudes from his open mouth.

What does this article do to the self esteem of children with obesity?
What is the visual message that it portrays about the worth of children with obesity?
If parents were uncertain about whether their child was obese or not, would this article encourage, or discourage them from finding out for sure?
Is it really ok to make fun of children with obesity by caracituring them in this way, at the same time as telling them and their parents that we really care about their health and wellbeing?

On March 20 2008, the New Zealand newspaper, The Marlborough Express carried on its front page the article "Weigh to go L***" It was accompanied by 2 photos of an 8 year old boy, before and after a 25+kg weight loss. The subtitle of the story was "Blenheim lad goes from chubby to champ" and the story began "LM can't lift the weight that he's shed in the past year."
This boy is essentially fronting as an advertisement for an Active Families program being run locally. It is also a perfect illustration of the ambivilence that people have around dealing with weight:

The article is titled "weigh to go L***... from chubby to champ"
The entire thrust of the article revolves around the weight loss of this boy.
He is pictured on the front page, not because he has become very active but because he has lost weight.

And yet: The project manager who was interviewed for the story was quoted as saying "I never talk about weight. Weight is not the goal, it's just the importance of physical activity."
She goes on to describe what sounds like a fun and supportive program which has made a big positive difference to this boy and his family. I do not dispute that.

This article raises the questions:

If weight is NOT the goal, why was this boy chosen to front this article?
Do the terms "chubby" and "champ" represent two ends of a spectrum and where does this leave those children who are in fact "chubby champs"?
Why does the project manager feel that it is important to state that "I never talk about weight" when clearly, the driving motivation behind this program is, in fact, to see children manage their weight?
What happens to this boy if, as so often happens, his excess weight is regained, given that his "success" has been so publically flaunted?
Should this boy have been allowed to have this health information about himself splashed over the front page of our paper, along with his photo and full name?
What is the relationship between the negative obesity terminology that we now have to use if we want to talk about weight in a medically "correct" way, and our determination not to talk about weight at all?