Is the 'War on Obesity' Toxic for Girls?

As childhood obesity rates continue to rise, so do our fears about the long-term consequences of an expanding nation. Whether we are declaring "War on Obesity"; "Battling Obesity"; or joining the "Obesity Fight," the message is clear: Fat is the enemy, and we must join together to defeat it.

But a major girls' organization is calling for us to rethink our focus on children's thickening waistlines, pointing out that a constant emphasis on weight from the anti-obesity camp can intensify body image stress for girls who are already pulled between contradicting messages about health, beauty and their own value.

"The childhood obesity epidemic has caused girls to be caught in a double bind—on one end they hear that children are overweight today and that is unhealthy and unattractive—on the other end of the spectrum they see images of girls and women who are super-thin and over-sexualized," reads a recent announcement from the Girl Scouts of the USA and the National Collaboration for Youth, who sponsored a June webinar on the topic, so popular it ran twice, on the future of girls' body image, health and the media.

No one can disagree that the health problems suffered by obese people (which cost the U.S. $150 billion each year) or the surging numbers of obese children are a national emergency. But obesity is the result of a complex snarl of personal and societal factors: genetic, environmental, emotional. Declaring war on excess weight, instead of the circumstances that lead to it, sidesteps politically loaded territory. "War on Obesity" shames the obese instead of the institutions and systems that have created the problem.

It can also be toxic for girls whose bodies may be changing in ways they don't expect and can't control - girls who may already be caught in a cycle of dieting and body hatred. Caught between the pudgy poster children of the obesity epidemic and the lithe alien creatures on Access Hollywood, how does a girl figure out what "healthy" is in a way that's not defined by weight? How does heaping shame on the obese teach girls to value themselves for their abilities instead of whether others find them attractive? Dissatisfaction with appearance isn't just linked to anorexia—it's linked to bulimia, binge eating and obesity. Internalizing a war on weight can be hazardous to your health.

Girls, and their allies, are seeking solutions. The Girl Scouts and a host of other girl-friendly organizations have teamed up with legislators to propose the Healthy Media For Youth Act in the House of Representatives, which would research the effects of media on youth and influence advertisers to promote healthier images in the media.

But even though Michelle Obama has made it clear that her "Let's Move" campaign stresses overall health, not weight, the "War on Obesity" continues to resonate in headlines and lesson plans. If we're going to fight a war, let's fight a war on added sugar and salt in supermarket staples, jumbo-sized packaging and fast-food restaurants clustered in poor neighborhoods. Let's fight a war on battered fitness facilities, mediocre physical education curricula and 24/7 children's programming on TV.

It's a harder sell. Food manufacturers, restaurants and advertisers have money and lobbyists; fat kids don't. But other campaigns for social change have succeeded in naming the culprit, not the victim. I've never heard of the "Anti-Lung Cancer" movement, but the "Anti-Smoking" movement is still going strong. Stripping the shame away from obese children and attaching it to the systems that cause obesity might help us solve the problem. It also might make being a girl in this country a little bit easier.

Photo credit: Mike Baird.