Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Dispatch From The Obvious Department

Overweight kids have low self-esteem. People get paid to research this?

2 Comments:

QuinnLaBelle said...: "We don't know exactly why high body mass index [or BMI, a ratio of height to weight] reduces self-esteem," she said. "However, we do know that bigger children get teased about their weight, and this is likely to contribute to the reduced self-esteem noted in our study."

Ahem.

Did the woman just contradict herself there? Do we know, or don't we?

jaysus.; 3:30 PM
Rosemary Riveter said...: GAH! This article makes me cringe as a scientist AND as a former fat kid!

I think what that woman is trying to say is that they cannot draw a direct, proven line between high bmi and low self esteem, but they know they are tied. I guess the point is that it's not a metabolic pathway that leads directly from your bmi to levels of happy chemicals in your brain, but that was pretty damn obvious anyway.

"From the obvious department" indeed.; 10:15 AM

Big Fat Deal

So what's the Big Fat Deal? Well, at the risk of getting all mission-statementy, I think it's important to call attention to issues of weight in the media, pop culture, and society. If we can convince at least one teenage girl that Ashley Olsen isn't "the fat twin," we will have done our job.

Thanks for visiting, commenting, and linking Big Fat Deal!