Nothing like telling kids they are fat...

Today the Class of 2010 hosted a health fair for a local elementary school. Along with showing the kids healthy portion sizes, exercises, etc, we calculated their BMIs and told them if they were underweight, overweight, etc... Talk about ripping my heart out and throwing it to the dogs! I can't even count the number of kids whom I told they were overweight and looked perfectly healthy to me! I didn't feel as bad telling the younger grades because they mostly just let it roll off their backs. Once the 4th and 5th graders came around, I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West. They are old enough to understand and feel bad about their weight. Then, I hated watching the "average" girls going around and asking their classmates their BMIs and watching the overweight girls just shake their head in embarrassment and not wanting to tell. I understand that it's important to help the kids learn healthy lifestyles now and that obesity is an epidemic, but I couldn't help but see myself in the overweight girls. Most of childhood was spent being an overweight child and I hated it. I hated being called names, I hated being the last picked in gym class, I hated having to wear the "chubby girl" clothes. I never really grew into my weight, I became anorexic. Today I was the person telling these girls they are overweight and I really hope that I'm not just one more person feeding a future eating disorder.

As a pediatrician I know I'm going to have to tell my patients and their parents if their child is overweight, and today I learned how much of a struggle this just might be for me.