As a pediatrician I have dedicated much of my time to giving parents practical information to prevent and combat obesity. I have found that I love this work. However, this week I hit a WALL. I saw too many kids in my office with morbid obesity. Many of them had been counseled before, and most had continued to gain weight. So many times I found no room at the top of the chart to plot their growing body mass index. I saw a few kids on the edge of diabetes, one with hypertension, and many with complaints related to a poor diet. Most of these kids were still in grade school. At one point I told one of the nurses who works with me, “I just can’t handle this anymore.” What can one pediatrician do after all?
Then last night I saw a video that reminded me of why I have become “Doctor Yum”. It boldly showed me why I spend my time counseling families, providing resources, sharing recipes, and trying to lead by example. The folks at the Strong4Life campaign who are fighting the childhood obesity in Georgia should be mighty proud of this video, which speaks nothing but TRUTH. Take a look and see for yourself.
So sad, and so true. And it’s sad that the gov’t is busy regulating the parents that are doing well with their kids rather than dealing with the real issues. (ie. Hoke County girl with her home-packed lunch)