Here's to Your Health

Excuse me for just a moment while I brush off my soapbox, in light of the national Childhood Anti-Obesity Campaign that seems to be in full swing.

There is a popular saying, “You can never be too rich or too thin.” I honestly don’t know if you can be too rich, having no real personal experience with having lots of money. I would just like to see what it would be like to have money left over after paying the bills and buying groceries each payday. However, I am certain that you can most definitely be too thin. Ask anyone who has struggled with anorexia, or lost someone to anorexia, if being too thin can be unhealthy.

Healthy people come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and that’s why I would like to see a national Healthy Child Campaign take the place of one that puts the emphasis strictly on weight. I am concerned that the message of an anti-obesity campaign will make children who are naturally larger than their peers struggle with body image issues, and will make them the target of ridicule by other children and even some ignorant adults. If it leads even one child to starve themselves in the quest of some unreasonable weight, then it is a tragedy.

The truth is that there is no magic number that is a healthy weight for all people. The truth is that if you eat healthy food in reasonable portions and exercise, you are likely to be healthier than you would be if you eat whatever you want and don’t exercise, and you will eventually weigh what is a good weight for you. Maybe that’s what we should be urging parents to teach their kids, so that they can grow up to be healthy, confident and strong.

A case in point – I have been on Weight Watchers for the past six months. By its very name, it is clearly a weight-loss program, albeit one that encourages a good mix of very healthy foods, and exercise. I have lost 25 pounds, but I am just one-third of the way to my self-established goal, which is NOT as thin as I am supposed to be according to all the height-and-weight charts. Already, I am healthier, I look better and I feel much better than I did six months ago.

True story – when we first started dating, my absolutely adorable husband felt compelled to assure me that he would love me even if I was skinny, because he didn’t want me to think he just wanted me for my body. That thought had never crossed my mind. In about a year, hopefully, he’s going to have the chance to prove it.