Is this picture "sad"?

The photo above originally appeared in a New York Times article written by Tara Parker Pope. The topic: Childhood obesity.

Pope's comment: She found the picture "sad."

Now Pope is receiving angry letters from readers, denouncing her use of the word sad to describe a picture of an overweight little girl (on her way back from an exercise class, FYI), being led by two women who also appear to be carrying a bit of extra weight (I'm not judging, just describing the pic).

Is it sad? Sad because a little girl is perhaps being fed improperly? Sad that her she may be spending too many hours in front of the TV and not enough time horsing around outside? How do we know, just from the pic? What about the fact that she's being led by two adults, gripping her to keep her safe? That's not sad, is it? It's tricky.

Click here to read some of the comments, and please tell me what you think below.

PS For more on childhood obesity, MizFit has a great piece up here and, of course, we discussed the topic the other day here. (PS Check out those poll results:When asked 'Who is the worse parents - the ones raising the malnourished vegan or the overweight toddler, you tied at 38% each for "vegan"/"who am I to judge." Twenty-four percent came down more heavily on the fries-and-cola-feeding parents.

Comments

I don't usually like to sit on the fence with polls but for this one I voted 'I'm not sure how to feel'. That's mostly because I have multiple feelings about it, some of which were covered in the other options.
My first thought when I saw it was that it was a photo relating to the overturn of the ban on gay marriage in the State (although I had just read a story about George Takei so probs already had that on the mind). My second thought was that the girl was looking up in what seems like an adoring way to the woman on the right, and it's very sweet.
Her weight was only the third thing I thought about. I know obesity is a real health concern but for me that wasn't stood out from this image, and I don't think it's sad at all.

Im almost not liking myself that my instinct/gut reaction BEFORE reading your post was that it made me sad.

I need to sit with this and do a gut check.

am I being judgmental?

Miz.

I think I actually would say that it's sad--not because of how the little girl looks, but because of the additional challenges and obstacles she'll face. I remember how hard kids were on the biggest girl in my class when I was in elementary school. It was brutal. And even if this particular little girl doesn't get teased, she'll still have to either (1) lose that weight; or (2) deal with the health consequences of childhood obesity, which can lead to serious conditions like diabetes. So yeah, I guess I do think it's sad...

I'm sorry to say that I'm obviously struggling with judgement issues, but yeah, I felt sad. Sad that this is more the normal than the abnormal these days and sad at how much more this kid has to go through, like Jen wrote.

Yes, she looks loved and I think it's great that she was coming from exercising, but I still think it's sad. And if it's not PC to say that, sorry :)

I totally agree with Mizfit and Jen on this one. I hate that I think that way, but every time I see an obese child I think "why are those parents doing that?" This child is obviously too young to realize all the "yummy" food she's eating is making her this way, and she's going to suffer just like Jen said. For such a long time the epidemic has been adult obesity and now we're hearing more and more about childhood obesity, and I'm sorry, but that's just sad! This increased publication of childhood obesity just tells me that the obese adults aren't taking their condition seriously and now it's being passed on to the little ones. :( Kids have enough to deal with in school without having this added to the list.

I teach 2nd grade, and maybe I've just been lucky, but it seems kids have eased up a bit. In the past few years I have taught obese children, but the other kids have never made an issue of it or even brought it up.

I noticed one thing that helps a lot is that I teach yoga as part of our PE curriculum. The kids who are overweight are often the best at stretching and balancing! The really active kids who are used to running around and being crazy seem to have the toughest time being still and going slowly.

Regardless of a students' weight, my opinion of their appearance is usually, "That's exactly how they're supposed to look." And their appearance isn't permanent, it could always change later. They can gain and lose weight, and it will always be the way they're supposed to look.

Sorry for the long-ish post. :)

I felt my mood brighten the second I looked at this picture. What I immediately interpreted was love and contentment. To me it's a sweet scene, with two adults who obviously love the child between them, and a child who seems cheerfully willing to yield to their care. I also thought the little girl looked incredibly huggable, and I was reminded of my friend's five-year-old daughter with whom I co-chair a Mutual Adoration Society, and felt a flashback to one of her embraces. My friend's daughter is quite slender and fairy-like. In this picture, I saw a seemingly loving child; not a FAT loving child. It's impossible to determine on casual observance why this child's body size and shape are what they are at this stage in her life -- so why go THERE? Did anybody notice the love?

Nikki - your reply is wonderful!

I personally don't really know how to react. I do think children are having weight problems at earlier ages, for a variety of reasons. If we know the reasons a child is overweight (her parents always give in, she never plays only watches TV), then it does make me sad that the child's health and well-being is being neglected. But perhaps she is sick, has a medical condition or is on medication that has caused her to be heavy. We don't always know the reason, so we don't always know how to react.

Still, I do think children need more activities/opportunities (which is often the problem) to play and be physically active. Not just to prevent obesity, but to teach them that moving is important and fun, and to help them make friends.

I, too, had to vote "not sure". I mean...yeah, it makes me sad that the child is overweight - but honestly, that wasn't my first reaction. I didn't see overweight when I first looked at the picture. I just saw a little girl with two adults holding her hands. Which is odd for me; maybe I'm slowly becoming more enlightened. :-)

I admit when I see children in public who are very overweight, it does make me sad for them. Life can be hard when you're fat. I know, I've been there. The world is not kind and your body doesn't do what you want it to quite as easily. I hate that kids have to experience that.

But honestly, despite my very strong feelings on childhood obesity, I'm not that sad for this child. She is being taken to an exercise class, which is a great start and indicates someone is at least paying attention. And clearly she is loved. She has every chance to become healthy and strong. The kids I'm really sad for are the millions whose parents have no clue there's even a problem.

V.

I fall in with the 'sad' party. I think because of my own childhood as an overweight kid i'm probably bias. might sound hokey, but when I see a kid i just want them to have such a great experience of being a child, so seeing this little girl and knowing what i went through makes me worry for her. who knows, i could be totally wrong and she could be very happy, but my gut says 'sad'.

It is sad that so many children are becoming less and less active in the world today. We as the parents need to keep our children moving. Camps, sports and other activities for starters. I usually offer incentives for my children to keep them busy...it usually works!

WundaLucy, that's funny...for some reason I thought of the gay marriage thing too, but that may be because it seems like a loving American family taking a walk (so yes, Kim, to answer you Q, I def see love here.) Mizfit and Gemfit and Colleen,u r not being judgmental, in that the whole point of this post was to ask people how they feel about the pic. Nikki -SO cool that your school offers yoga to students. How great to open up their minds and bodies early on! Jen, I appreciate your homesty.

PS Kim I want to be part of anything called the Mutual Adoration Society!

I definitely see love in that picture before anything else. And Nikki, I think teaching yoga is a great idea! I was an overweight child, and I hated PE because I was always picked last for teams. Whenever we did those presidential fitness tests, I was horrible in every category except the sit and reach because I was very flexible. I would have loved to have learned about yoga at that age because that would have been the one unit that I didn't fail in. You are giving your students a great gift.

Man, I love you Kim.

I needed that (gently loving) slap upside the head as I was far too mired in the MizFitMindset.

I needed to step back for a moment.
regardless where we go next in our thoughts youre right.
we need to see this:
little girl looked incredibly huggable
FIRST AND FOREMOST.

I'm on the sad wagon, too. My first instinct was to think of the additional hardships she will face (or already as) if she remains this size. Secondly, i find it interesting that HEALTH isnt a mina concern for anyone. This is girl very very overweight, and from a medical stand point, could very well die from complications caused by her size. Its sad that she is so young and facing adult hardships like disease and death. if that child were significantly underweight, i would find it sad for the same reasons.

and she is VERY huggable. well, she looks like it atleast. i dont know if she would be too open if i ran up and tried to give her a squeeze.

I have to admit that my first thought was a sad one, too. I have a child in my class that weighed 120lbs. at 4 years old. And part of his education plan involves cherrios or other small treats, like skittles, as "reinforcers." I hate to think of all the health problems that go along with childhood obesity.

I appreciate the props for teaching yoga to the little ones. In the beginning I had to beg my assistant principal to let me do it, and by the end of a couple months I had kids who started the year throwing chairs around their classroom doing downward dog and wheel poses. I'm not going to deny, I was pretty pleased to get kudos from my AP at the end of the year!

As the only person to come in (so far) on the side of angry, I thought I would say why.

When I look at the picture I get more than a little angry about how easy it is for people to become overweight.

First off, society teaches us (especially women) to be good to others, but we are rarely taught to be good to ourselves. Taking the time to exercise and is a luxury for a lot of us, that comes after taking care of everybody else.

I also get angry when I look at my grocery bills and realize that when I buy a cart full of the good stuff (healthy, but not even organic) my bill is really high. The crap is almost invariably cheaper.

Thus ends my rant for today :)

My first thought is "sad" as well. Not necessarily for this girl, but for childhood obesity as a whole. I have been covering the obesity epidemic as a journalist for years, and how's this for sad - seeing pre-teens with type 2 diabetes because of their weight. It's not about how they look, it's about their health and how so many of them are now at risk for horrible health problems like heart disease. That's what makes me so sad. :(

Parents need to learn to say "no" to extra helpings, extra sweets and hours of TV & video games/computer use. Wake up and PARENT your kid! Sorry if it sounds harsh but, parents who can't say "no" are the culprits of this "epidemic". Far too often, kids are "rewarded" for nothing, for just doing something they should have all along. Stop babying your kids and show them some tough love..."No, you can't have more ice cream & soda, Yes, you are going outside, No, we are not going to McDummpy's...now eat your carrots!"

We should NOT except overweight kids as the "norm". Parents should be ashamed that they let their kids become so unhealthy.

Holy cow! We know nothing about these people and we automatically assume the little girl is obese. We know nothing of her medical status, we don't even know her age. Anyone remember baby fat? My own children started out in this world at average weight, dipped the scales a bit in puberty, but ended up fit, healthy, average weight adults. We all know that drive-thru restaurants, soda pop and video games are kids' worstest enemies these days when it comes to their health, and we need to rethink the convenience aspect of these things and make different choices... but this little girl looks happy to me! Much rather see her in this picture than one of those heart-strings-tugging starving child ads - anyone else second that?

I voted sad, because to me it IS. I was a "fat kid" in elementary school, and I think no child should have to go through that. The teasing was merciless and I never got to wear the "cute" clothes the other little girls did. Not to mention losing the weight was hard and that it had adverse impacts upon my health. I do think that obese and overweight children are sad, whether that's un-PC or not.

I get angry when I see an overweight child. And I see them alot more these days. I get angry because that child became that way due to her caregiver's mistakes. I was overweight as a child, and have struggled through my adult life with weight issues. I now have high blood pressure as a result of my weight. And I remember the teasing, taunting, the looks and whispers as a kid. It was painful, and to this day, I still live with self-esteem issues as a result. That child will more than likely experience a lot of emotional pain, not to mention inevitable health issues, due to her weight. The cargivers of these kids should be ashamed of themselves.

I voted that I didnt know how to feel for several reasons.

Just for the record, I have a daughter who is overweight, she is not the same size as this girl, but still not in "normal" range.

SHe is in Gymanstics, Cheerleading and Karate. She eats well balanced meals. No sugar, no candy, we allow an occasional popcicle. Her favorite snack is carrots with fat free ranch dip. I'm not quite sure why she is overweight yet my others kids are not. She is more active than the other ones!

A pet peeve is when people think the parents always DO SOMETHING to the child to make them this way. I didn't make her this way, God did. She is how she is supposed to be.

Yes, the picture is sad. Letting a child get that big is just out and out abusive. She'll spend her life aching, mocked, and tormented. Hopefully she'll realize at an early age that she needs to do something about her own weight with our without her parents help. What on earth is wrong with parents that they can't see how horrible it is to let their child get this way?

I was happy to see that the people were out doing something. I thought that it was great that they cared enough to make sure that the little girl didn't wander off into the crowd. I didn't focus on the weight until last.