The weight of childhood

When we were kids, the relatively chubby ones were rare and easily identifiable.  The Tamil word குண்டு ("gundu" to mean fat) was often how we kids referred to them.  And that adjective continued on even as the kid became a teenager and shed the baby fat.

Years after finishing high school, when I met up with a school-mate, and when we talked about old friends, he asked me where gundu-K* was!

These days, when I travel to and in India, the chubby kids are not that rare as it was when I was a kid.  Of course, here in the US too.

Meanwhile, many classmates who were even more stick-figures than how I was have ballooned up into குண்டு மாமா (fat uncles.)

Yes, there is all that sugar. And the ultra-processed foods that our biology is not wired for.  But, we have to deal with the world in which we live, and not some ideal world, right?  There is no going back.

We have to figure out what to do with childhood obesity that is way more than mere baby fat.

Childhood obesity has tripled over the past 20 years, and is projected to increase further. "According to a new report recently released by the World Obesity Federation, obesity will affect more than 250 million kids by 2030."

So, what can one do?

The first thing we need to keep in mind that slim does not equal health, and being chubby does not mean unhealthy either.  I bet you too know of slim people who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol or have suffered heart attacks, while the chubby ones continue to enjoy themselves.

Even our daily interactions tell us that it is not merely about the body weight or shape.

So, don't even try any stupid body-shaming route.  What matters is being healthy.

So, what can we older folk do?

Fundamentally, messages should emphasize health and health behaviors, rather than body weight. We need to communicate to children that their health, not a number on the scale, is important.

It is about the overall health.  Eat your veggies. And fruits. Minimize juices. Avoid soda. Walk, or even better, run.  Sleep.  ... Focus on the health, but never on the scale.

It is no different from the message I tell students when it comes to learning.  It is not about the letter-grade, which is comparable to a number on the weighing scale.

Ah, yes, you expect me to write at this point, "if only people listened to me."  That's merely a punchline that I use--there are students who listen to me.  Occasionally they even read this blog.  And there are adults who listen to me--heck, even my father sometimes says "like you said, ..."

Sanitas per escam! ;)