Obese kids get no candy, just a lecture

[kenny]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/30/obese-halloween-letter/3312537/

A Fargo, N.D., woman says she will give trick-or-treaters that she deems "moderately obese" a letter instead of candy this Halloween.

"I just want to send a message to the parents of kids that are really overweight. ... I think it's just really irresponsible of parents to send them out looking for free candy just 'cause all the other kids are doing it," the woman said in a morning radio interview with Y94. She wouldn't identify herself.

The letter states: "You child is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season."

It continues: "My hope is that you will step up as a parent and ration candy this Halloween and not allow your child to continue these unhealthy eating habits."

North Dakota State University assistant professor of clinical psychology Katie Gordon told Valley News Live in Fargo that the letter could be more emotionally damaging than helpful.

"It's just that kind of thing that for some kids, if they're vulnerable, might trigger major problems," Gordon said. "Even if a child is overweight, they might be very healthy because of what they eat and how they exercise. It's ineffective anyway because it's not likely to help the kid."

David Smith, a cardiologist in Doylestown, Pa., says that he thinks the woman is doing a public service.

"I think it's a tough-love letter," Smith. "Eating disorders are a problem but the magnitude of that risk just pales in comparison to obesity. Obesity in the last decade has taken over smoking as the leading health problem we face today."

"Giving candy to an obese child is like giving a cigarette to a person with emphysema," Smith says. "It is giving a drink to an alcoholic. It is giving heroin to a drug addict."

 

[chrono]

I am sure the poor child would be disheartened to receive a note instead of a treat for Halloween. My neighbours have given out healthier choices such as graham crackers and pretzels instead of sugary candy. Tough messages are easier to swallow when it is given with honey. Even fruit would have been better received instead of such a letter.

 

[kenny]

I agree Chrono.
I get this woman's point, but it's none of her beeswax!
She should have just given candy to all kids or shut her lights off and not participated.

What's next, not giving candy to a kid in a devil costume because it offends your religious sensibilities?

 

[TooPatient]

How horrible!

I can't imagine receiving a note like that as a kid. The woman may have meant well but that is NOT the right way to do it.


Either don't bother to participate in the day at all or choose a healthier alternative. There are plenty of granola bars, graham crackers, dried fruit packs and other healthier packaged alternatives.

 

[Mayk]

The message should be for the parents, not the kids. Unless we help our kids make good choices they will not. It's like feeding a Lab, they will eat until the get bloat if we let them. (at least my lab would, she was a puppy garbage disposal if not guarded constantly). How awful to hand out something like this to children. They are still children and we can't all be razor thin. There could be underlying health issues but I'm standing by my statement... the message starts at home.

 

[Efe]

Flat out unkind.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Wow, talk about a lack of boundaries! Who is that even helping? I anticipate a lot of parents would be automatically inclined to shred that note.

I wonder if she gave the note to the "moderately obese" ( )children who came to the door without parental supervision and gave candy to the "moderately obese" kids whose parents escorted them? The note kinda suggests she didn't give the note directly to the parents themselves...coward.

 

[iLander]

Eggs! Lots of EGGS! That's what this woman would get from me!

This whole obese child thing really gets on my nerves! Especially since the schools are giving out milk Full of bovine growth hormone and calling it healthy. It used to be a cow took ten years to go from calf to slaughter size. Now it takes 4 1/2. Gee . . . let me think about why that is. Then they flood the dairy cows with hormones to increase milk production. They tell breastfeeding women not to eat onions, because it will show up in the milk. Do they think cows have some kind of filter? We switched to organic milk, and had our DD drink water at school, and the pounds rolled right off her. She went from a little pudgy to slim in less than a year with that single simple change. oh, and ALL organic meats, without hormones. The stupidity out there . . .

Then the schools have an entire hour a day to exercise those kids in PE, and they pick dodgeball and rope climbing. How is that going to help anyone lose weight?

Ridiculous! Don't get me started . . .

I hope that lady's house gets TP'ed every day for a year. She's a b!tch!

 

[monarch64]

Does she not understand the meaning of TRICK or treat? What a moron.

 

[ChristineRose]

I've seen this story in several news outlets now. It just doesn't make sense.

It looks like one woman with a less than astute knowledge of children printed up a note and it somehow got noticed by a reporter who wrote a story about it that went national? Seriously? That's the headline? "There's a jerk living in North Carolina!" Did she ever even hand out the notes? I don't see it happening with all the reporters hanging around. Maybe the tough little fat kids went up to her door in hopes of getting a note so that they could toilet paper her house.

 

[Niel]

Oh the rage I would put out if my daughter was overweight and she got this from some B***

Like imagine some 8 year old who's parents have her in team sports and dieting and this one day she gets to go out and get candy just like everybody else and this girl blatantly called the girl a fatty.

Oh she would get more than eggs for her house.

 

[junebug17]

I saw this story, she's an idiot, what a mean and meddling thing to do, absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Indylady]

I am sure the poor child would be disheartened to receive a note instead of a treat for Halloween. My neighbours have given out healthier choices such as graham crackers and pretzels instead of sugary candy. Tough messages are easier to swallow when it is given with honey. Even fruit would have been better received instead of such a letter.

Right--why not give out a healthier snack? Fruit, pre-packed baby carrots, or whatever. Or, just chose not to partake at all.

This woman has a complex of some sort and likely got some satisfaction by putting these children down.

 

[JewelFreak]

It doesn't even look like the witch had the b**ls to sign it. Although the kid knows who planted a piece of paper into her or his sack instead of candy. Egged, toilet papered, whipped creamed is her deserved fate.

I'll bet she doesn't have kids of her own, or she'd know how cruel that is. Steam would be coming out of my ears! And if I knew who she was, I'd make sure she heard from me. What a jerk know-it-all!

 

[TooPatient]

Eggs! Lots of EGGS! That's what this woman would get from me!

This whole obese child thing really gets on my nerves! Especially since the schools are giving out milk Full of bovine growth hormone and calling it healthy. It used to be a cow took ten years to go from calf to slaughter size. Now it takes 4 1/2. Gee . . . let me think about why that is. Then they flood the dairy cows with hormones to increase milk production. They tell breastfeeding women not to eat onions, because it will show up in the milk. Do they think cows have some kind of filter? We switched to organic milk, and had our DD drink water at school, and the pounds rolled right off her. She went from a little pudgy to slim in less than a year with that single simple change. oh, and ALL organic meats, without hormones. The stupidity out there . . .

Then the schools have an entire hour a day to exercise those kids in PE, and they pick dodgeball and rope climbing. How is that going to help anyone lose weight?

Ridiculous! Don't get me started . . .

I hope that lady's house gets TP'ed every day for a year. She's a b!tch!

Not only the cheapest mass produced milk available! It only goes downhill from there!

We have been desperately trying to teach "A" about healthy foods and balance. Her mother fills her with junk food on their one visit per week (she "only" ate 6 Butterfinger candy bars the other day ). Her friends parents don't always have the same ideas of "healthy" as we do -- I was actually there one day when a mother called into the kitchen that there were brownies and they could have icecream with them and cookies too. (this wasn't just a treat, this is their usual thing after school...)

Yeah...

So the schools are required to only serve "nutritional" foods. You'd think that they would be helping by providing good options so kids can eat healthy. Ooops. The lunch room can only serve nutritional foods.
The teachers can (and do) bring candy in for the kids and allow (encourage) kids to bring in "treats" to share. "A" is routinely coming home with doughnuts, cookies, suckers, cupcakes and more. I don't even know how much she eats before getting home! One day she told me about having cupcakes in one class and then doughnuts & candy bars in homeroom.


Given this sort of thing going on, how exactly do you convince a kid to make healthy choices?!?
Shockingly enough if you put a kid in a room where all the other kids are eating potato chips, brownies and Snickers they ARE going to eat some too.

 

[tammy77]

Miserable b!tch, period. I highly doubt her note inspired any of those poor kids.


TP, that's shocking re: A's school. My girls' school has a pretty strict guideline for healthy treats only for birthdays, etc. and limited sugar treats on holidays. I thought it was standard now.

 

[lyra]

I agree that if she feels this strongly, she should not have participated in giving anything edible away. None of her business. She is only responsible for herself and her own children. I don't even understand this attitude. Boundary issues indeed.

When our kids were growing up, we rationed the candy like everyone else we knew did. Then eventually the kids forgot about the candy altogether. We'd throw it out by Christmas. It's not a big deal.

Ilander, back in my day, that house would have definitely been egged and soaped! It was a deterrent for parents, which seems funny now.

 

[Gypsy]

I am sure the poor child would be disheartened to receive a note instead of a treat for Halloween. My neighbours have given out healthier choices such as graham crackers and pretzels instead of sugary candy. Tough messages are easier to swallow when it is given with honey. Even fruit would have been better received instead of such a letter.

Right--why not give out a healthier snack? Fruit, pre-packed baby carrots, or whatever. Or, just chose not to partake at all.

This woman has a complex of some sort and likely got some satisfaction by putting these children down.

This.

 

[momhappy]

While I don't agree with what she did, I don't necessarily agree that she's a horribly mean person wither. She had a message to send and even though I may not agree with her method of delivery, she managed to draw some attention to a sensitive issue that many people are afraid to address.

 

[lyra]

While I don't agree with what she did, I don't necessarily agree that she's a horribly mean person wither. She had a message to send and even though I may not agree with her method of delivery, she managed to draw some attention to a sensitive issue that many people are afraid to address.

I disagree. We're all entitled to our opinion, of course. She's also entitled to free speech.

My problem is that she singled out kids based on looks. How is she to know whether one kid has an endocrine disorder that may cause weight gain, or a child on steroid treatment, or a type 1 diabetic kid (who really should ration candy) but is actually thin? If she felt this message was important enough, she should have given every kid the letter perhaps.

The thing I fear about this is that it could easily turn to other things. She's discriminating against fat kids. What's next? Gay kids, different ethnicities, or religions? Targeting the child is very mean and potentially emotionally damaging.

 

[momhappy]

Well, of course she handed the letters out based solely on looks - weight is a part of our physical appearance. Again, I don't condone (or approve of) her behavior - I just don't happen to think that she's the awful b*tch that others have suggested she is. I happen to agree that childhood obesity is a serious issue that needs to be addressed (just not in the way that she chose to address it). A note to trick-or-treaters may have been insensitive, but like it or not, it managed to get her point across and draw some attention, which is probably what she was after all along.

 

[kenny]

We're all entitled to our opinion, of course. She's also entitled to free speech.

Free speech?

So, if the note was to the parents of black children saying only white kids should be trick or treating in her white neighborhood that's protected free speech too?
How bout Jewish kids? Gay-looking kids, girls not wearing a burka? …

Just when "free speech" becomes active discrimination is a tough call.
Does your boss have free speech to suggest you wear shorter and tighter skirts and lower-cut blouses?
If not your boss, how bout your neighbor?

But if she is entitled to free speech on this, then the community gets free speech too ... via egging and TPing her house.

 

[lyra]

We're all entitled to our opinion, of course. She's also entitled to free speech.

Free speech?

So, if the note was to the parents of black children saying only white kids should be trick or treating in her white neighborhood that's protected free speech too?
How bout Jewish kids? Gay-looking kids, girls not wearing a burka? …

Just when "free speech" becomes active discrimination is a tough call.
Does your boss have free speech to suggest you wear shorter and tighter skirts and lower-cut blouses?
If not your boss, how bout your neighbor?

But if she is entitled to free speech on this, then the community gets free speech too ... via egging and TPing her house.

You took the free speech line out of context Kenny. The woman is legally allowed to say what she said, as awful as it was. At the end of my post I mentioned that what she did was wrong because it COULD lead to other discrimination targeted at children, or thought of as a "helpful" suggestion. You should know by now that I'm the very definition of liberal.

 

[momhappy]

We're all entitled to our opinion, of course. She's also entitled to free speech.

Free speech?

So, if the note was to the parents of black children saying only white kids should be trick or treating in her white neighborhood that's protected free speech too?
How bout Jewish kids? Gay-looking kids, girls not wearing a burka? …

Just when "free speech" becomes active discrimination is a tough call.
Does your boss have free speech to suggest you wear shorter and tighter skirts and lower-cut blouses?
If not your boss, how bout your neighbor?

But if she is entitled to free speech on this, then the community gets free speech too ... via egging and TPing her house.

Likewise, had she handed out fruit/veggies on Halloween as some here have suggested, she would have been egged/tped anyways (with no media coverage to spread her message).....

 

[missy]

Ugh, I hadn't wanted to click onto this thread because I knew it would be aggravating. Awful awful awful. I agree with those who said this is the wrong way to go about it. Hand out healthier snacks or don't participate. How dare she do something so cruel and unnecessary. It's not like this action is going to suddenly trigger healthy eating habits. More like just allow the child to see how mean people really are, except that a child doesn't have the developed presence of mind to realize that it is not about her/him but speaks more to the character of the person who wrote that letter.

Discrimination is never OK and how one's child is raised is not her business. She has no idea what the parents are doing or the health status of the individual child(ren) in question.

Hopefully all the parents whose child received this letter prescreened the treats and prevented their child from seeing it.

 

[momhappy]

For what it's worth, I couldn't find any information on whether or not the woman actually handed these notes out to anyone on Halloween. All of the articles are about how she planned to hand them out. The woman contacted a local radio station before Halloween about her plan and they interviewed her. There is also some speculation about whether or not the information is even real- some have said that it might be a joke. You'd think that if children of Fargo, ND actually received these notes, we'd find personal accounts of the incidents and not just the same articles (about her plan) over and over again. I'm guessing that it was either a joke, an attempt to get some attention, or the woman never carried out her plan, but again, that's just a guess on my part.

 

[dragonfly411]

My mom had a really neat idea. She has a friend who's daughter was diagnosed with diabetes. She's 8. She was allowed to go Trick or Treating, but to limited houses. My mom had candy AND Halloween Pencils ready! The little girl grabbed a piece of candy and then looked like she wanted more. My mom told her she could have more, and she went to grab a pencil but was scared to. My mom handed her two pencils. She was DELIGHTED. Way better than horrible note to parents, give them goodies like pencils, spider rings, sticky hands they can play with, toys from the dollar store. Seriously.