I feel like I haven’t blogged forever but it has only been 10 days or so since  ‘real’ post. I guess that shows how much blogging has become a part of my life! People are still saying to me “I saw you on TV” (the TT interview) and I haven’t had anyone say anything negative (to my face). My 12 year old son informed me though that while his best mate’s mother agreed with me that fat people shouldn’t be discriminated against, that she did believe fat is unhealthy. Considering the woman is a nurse I pretty much expected that! And I don’t expect everyone to agree with my perspective, I would just like people to have an informed perspective rather than just believing everything fed to them by the media and/or medical profession.

Anyway…

Today I came across this report about the ‘Active After School Program’ that has been run in many Australian primary schools over the last four years. When I was working as a Primary School Welfare Officer back in 2005 and early 2006, this program was piloted at the school I worked at. The kids seemed to like it enough but I am not sure if that was because there was little else to do in the small country town the school was located in or if the actual content was worthwhile. Unfortunately, a lot of children were unable to take part because they travelled by bus to and from school which meant their parents had to come and collect them if they took part in the program – something that becomes very difficult when you live a long way out of town and/or are milking dairy cattle at the very time of the day.

A few years later, the program became available at my son’s primary school (a different school, located in a large urban rural town). My son attended for a term or so and then refused to go back. He said he didn’t like the program because of the bullying that went on by particular children and that there weren’t enough teachers/supervisors to keep everyone in check. While his experience isn’t necessarily indicative of the entire program, I think the fact that the program was mainly run by secondary school students with a minimal number of adult teachers in attendance does give rise to some potential issues. However in all, the program seemed like a good idea. Of course, I am basing that appraisal on the premise of giving kids something constructive to do after school where they can have fun and be active at the same time. Not on the expectation that they lose weight in the process.

I am not sure why the ‘experts’ who assessed the program expected the program participants to do more exercise than those who didn’t take part. Did it not cross their minds that children who didn’t participate, children who went home (or to other extra curricular activities) after school, may also be taking part in physical activity? Obviously not! The ‘experts’ seem to focused on the idea that kids are not being physically active (regardless of weight) that they are blinded to any other possibility. Once again, just because a child is fat it does not mean they are not physically active. The sooner these experts realise this, the better off we all (especially kids) will be.

As for the idea of pouring the funding for Active After School into ‘treatment programs’ for fat kids, what the hell???? I hate to think what they would consider in terms of ‘treatment’… Weight Watchers? Lap Banding? These are KIDS we are talking about for god’s sake…  Professor Proietto needs his brain banded if he thinks obesity surgery is the answer in regards to fat kids. Personally, I am thankful it takes two years to get into see him, another two years to see a surgeon regarding surgery and possibly another three years before getting to the operating theatre if that is the route he recommends for treating fat kids. But that is only if the child is lucky enough to have parents without private health insurance. Private health cover in this country expedites the entire process and would mean a much higher chance of fat kids being ‘treated’ via surgery. The professor should be ashamed of himself.