Round'em up, weigh'em and tag'em..
Why I refused to let my child be weighed | Mick Hume - Times Online
It appears my wife and I have upset the Government, as part of the small minority of parents who refused to have our 11-year-old child weighed and measured in school last term....the message is clear: that the authorities have the right to decide whether or not our children are living “healthy lives”. They want to measure not only body mass but moral worth, to decide whether our children fit the State's model.
Despite overegged talk of a child obesity “epidemic”, the real extent, causes and health consequences of children being overweight remain uncertain. What is more certain is the lack of hard evidence that campaigns of intervention in school or family life have any beneficial effects...Yet the authorities throw their substantial weight behind every stunt from policing lunchboxes to weighing children like little piggies. At a time when governments have lowered horizons from creating the Good Society to moulding the Healthy Citizen, the anti-obesity crusade legitimises public monitoring of private behaviour.
But "It's for the children" ™! They will be assimilated into the State's desired image, how could you doubt the all knowing benevolence of the State? Even Tory MPs don't read Hayek anymore.
Comments
They insist on using the BMI scale which is bollocks because it assumes everyone is "average" build. My old man comes out as overweight on the BMI scale because he's 6'4" tall and 15st7lb yet there's not an ounce of fat on him - if he lost any more weight you'd see his ribs poking through his skin. It's just yet another arbitrary one-size-fits-all target.
Posted by: wonkotsane | August 6, 2008 7:33 AM
This is a very sad little saga. How dare the state force parents to behave in certain ways. Teach children how to eat healthily, cook healthily, I don't care what - but using taxpayers' money and teachers' valuable time for this exercise is outrageous.
Posted by: Letters From A Tory | August 6, 2008 8:56 AM
Good for Mr Hulme!
It gladdens my heart to see someone stand up and tell these people 'No! You work for me, not the other way around..'
Posted by: JuliaM | August 6, 2008 11:12 AM
The EU would love to have a compliant passle of malnourished, caved-chest, skinny weaklings to order about, less trouble and backtalk that way.
No doubt the squarehead enforcers will tweak the rules and use growth hormones like they did in the DDR with their bearded "women" athletes...
Posted by: DirtCrashr | August 6, 2008 6:56 PM
There are some great recent articles by the wonderful Sandy Szwarc on obesity:
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/
Posted by: DocBud | August 7, 2008 5:42 AM