She's Fat

According to the New York Post, Staten Island’s Gwendolyn Williams (pictured above), age 9, got a “Fitness-gram” from New York City School PS 29 telling her she is fat as part of a city school system mandated BMI test.  The test results were given to the students in a barely sealed envelope to be brought home to their parents.  When confronted by the upset girl’s mother as to how this skinny girl could possibly be fat, the school principle responded they didn’t think the children would open the envelope.

Schools are now providing three meals/day to many students during the school year and oftentimes during the summer months.  The government is now mandating calorie and portion sizes, as well as Draconian measures such as only skim milk.  The result is school lunch sales are down 12%.  Food waste measured by analyzing garbage contents is skyrocketing. 

To combat this, some systems are now analyzing the home packed lunches brought to school by students, sometimes confiscating them if the school food czar doesn't like the contents.  Meanwhile, in other schools, if students are short a buck or two on prepaid lunch cards, the systems literally pull the lunches out from students as they are eating them throwing the food in the trash.

Notwithstanding these efforts, childhood obesity continues to rise as schools cut out physical education and continue to discourage physical activity on playgrounds because it might be “too competitive” or someone might get hurt.  Besides, the schools have to hire real teachers to get students ready for all of those standardized tests.

The absurdity of all of this is off the charts but absolutely in line with those in government who love bureaucracy.   It would be funny if it weren't so sad.  Much of this is being led by a bunch of do-gooders who eschew junk food while embracing junk science. Margarine is good for you...no...butter is better...no red meat is bad....no eat fish...no that has mercury.  Some of these folks border on being obsessive compulsive.  The best way to handle folks like this is to tell them to shut the hell up. (I would use another stronger word other than "hell" but that's just me!)

Leading the pack on this is Michele Obama.  While her campaign to educate the public as to healthy eating is admirable, the usual coercive tactics used by the concerned left is putting government inside your refrigerator.  There are no limits to what they would do to achieve their enlightened goals.  This type of bureaucratic mandated behavior always ends up in absurd results.  The human capacity to skirt the impositions by do-gooder types always amazes me.  Anyone who visited Soviet Russia in the Communist hey-day would know whereof I speak.   Ms. Obama would serve the public well by providing information, education, and example as to her, and I repeat “her”, view of what would be proper for your children to eat.  Other than that, she should mind her own business.

Meanwhile, I suggest schools concentrate on reading, writing, and arithmetic.  They aren’t doing such a good job there either.  Outside of providing nutrition to those who can’t afford it, leave the rest of us alone.