Disney Hates Fat Kids?
Let me preface this post by freely admitting my tendency to judge other people. Adam has compared me to a pet dog with socialization issues. My friend Jordan gave me a sad look once and asked, “Why do you hate everything?” I’m trying to work on it, but it’s pretty deeply ingrained by this point. Okay, disclaimer over.
No matter how open minded you are, the following news item is bound to perplex:
Are you back? Okay. The Denver Post also ran the item (on page 2A no less) under the heading “Disney closes obesity exhibit seen as mean”. The disgruntled party is the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, or NAAFA. Epcot was getting ready to debut a new interactive “Habit Heroes” exhibit, which commits the heinous sin of encouraging a healthy lifestyle for kids, when NAAFA exploded with indignation. In a press release on NAAFA’s website, Public Relations Director Peggy Howell writes, “All children, regardless of body size, should be free to enjoy the ‘happiest
place on Earth’!” Wait a minute. By opening Habit Heroes, was Disney unveiling a sinister plot to curtail fat kids’ enjoyment of Disney goodness? Let’s take a look.
http://www.disunplugged.com/2012/02/13/habit-heroes-opens-in-epcot-at-walt-disney-world/
No, I don’t see anything in there about how fat kids are not going to be allowed at Disneyland/Disney World anymore. Is NAAFA anticipating a cruel ritual where kids are made to stand on a scale like Epcot is the airport and they are suspiciously large luggage? Do the characters in Healthy Habits point and laugh at chunky little girls and tell them that they could never be like Ariel? Ursula, maybe! Because she’s fat! Ha ha ha! No, I don’t see any evidence of this either. So what’s the big deal?
The author of the AP article writes, “Critics said the exhibit reinforces stereotypes that obese children are lazy and have poor eating habits. Doctors say obesity can sometimes be attributed to genetics and certain medications, and that food can be used as a coping mechanism.”
Just for fun, I’m going to temporarily accept all of these premises. First, that a exhibit or organization that promotes healthy living is insensitive to obese children. If this is true, then shame on you, First Lady Michelle Obama! Your “Let’s Move!” initiative to “Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids” is just plain mean. How could you? A quick Google search for “NAAFA criticizes Michelle Obama” easily turned up this article, entitled “NAAFA takes on Michelle Obama’s crusade against childhood obesity”. Nice one, Harriet Brown. http://harrietbrown.blogspot.com/2010/01/naafa-takes-on-michelle-obamas-crusade.html Among other things, Ms. Brown claims that promoting healthy lifestyles will encourage dieting, which will only make people fatter…somehow. In addition, she claims that childhood obesity has “leveled off” since 2008. Oh, thank God. I guess it’s not a problem anymore now that it’s leveled off. The group seems to be okay with NFL Rush’s “Play 60″ campaign, because I couldn’t find any huffy bloggers complaining about how encouraging kids to be active for 60 minutes a day wasn’t fair to their precious little popkin (yes, ripping off J.K. Rowling here), who only wants to play Halo and eat cupcakes.
Next premise! Obesity can be genetic or medication-induced. Of course this is true, but why get so upset at Disney? If they are fat because of genetics, they shouldn’t eat healthy? If they are fat because of medication, why bother exercising? This is a weak argument. I don’t know what else to say about it. It just makes no sense. The exhibit isn’t entitled “Why are you so fat, Fatty? Get off your ass!” so is it really fair to say that Disney would be responsible for thousands of little damaged psyches if Habit Heroes was allowed to open?
And finally, the “coping mechanism” premise. I’ve heard that many adults have a coping mechanism called “alcoholism” and that others make use of one called “drug abuse”. If kids are using food as a coping mechanism, perhaps concern – instead of understanding and indulgence – would be the best response. A kid makes fun of you at school for being fat, so you eat a cupcake which makes you more fat. Is NAAFA saying that this is acceptable? I’m not saying that it’s not sad. It is. I feel bad for these kids, but my gut instinct (har har) tells me that they’d prefer not to be fat. If they’d prefer not to be fat, maybe having a hugely influential media giant like Disney encouraging them to be healthy and have fun doing it could be a good thing.
I do think that childhood obesity is a problem in America. I mentioned Let’s Move and Play 60 because those are the organizations that I’m familiar with, but if you know of other websites that encourage a healthy lifestyle for kids, then please share them in the comments.
I was reading some things about it this morning. I don’t have a problem with Disney addressing obesity, but they seem to have gone about it the right way.
An issue that I have with it is that the fat characters are the villains. Another issue is that most of the food in the park is exceptionally high in fat and sugar. There are few healthy options, an issue that was not addressed until after the exhibit had received such awful reviews.
The bright side is that it’s not technically AT Disney World. It’s at Epcot, which can be kind of a snooze for kids anyway.
It is “technically” in Walt Disney World because Epcot is located in Walt Disney World. Also, there are plenty of healthy options available in the parks. You can even meet with the chefs to discuss special dietary needs should you want to really make sure you know what you’re eating. It is a theme park so yes, you can chow down on candy and ice cream but you can also choose apple slices instead of fries or a salad instead of a burger. They have gluten free, sugar free, kosher, and vegan options available.
Here is my problem with it. It sounds like a boring experience. But, having visited EPCOT it sounds like about par for the course.
One thing you didn’t mention in the argument was that people are enablers. If you are always around drinkers, they aren’t going to criticize your over indulgence in the stuff.
The same can be implied for these children. If obesity is genetic, and is a coping mechanism, then it is most likely inherited and learned from the parents? If you are always around parents that have food coping mechanisms and are obese, are you more likely to be enabled by these parents to do the same?
Let’s consider the 12 year old kid, that is wandering around EPCOT with his parents. He’s 50#’s overweight for his age compared to cohorts. He’s already feeling teenage angst and rebellion. Then, he comes through this attraction with his parents. They say, “Oh no Bobby, we aren’t going through that one, it’s mean to fat people and says we should eat better. I feel terrible about that. Shame on you Disney! Man, I need a (drink) ice cream now!” And Bobby thinks, “You know, that’s the problem… I don’t want to be like them…”
Anyway, Bobby loses weight because a force outside his immediate family group acted upon him.
The way I see it is this: obesity in kids is sad. And that doesn’t even cover it. It is truly catastrophic. Diabetes, heart trouble, high blood pressure are all genetically linked. Diet and exercise are the best way to fight those diseases. Yes it is ok to love yourself the way you are. But do a one-up and take care of your health if you truly love yourself. DO everything you can to make yourself healthier. Like you said Carly, you can’t just throw that aspect of it away. If you are overweight because of genetics, you just don’t give in and eat whatever you want.
Anyway, this infuriates me. And it is another example of how the minority pissed off of America have more power than the ennui majority…
Good points, Adam. Especially that Epcot can be kind of boring and lame, so the initiative probably wouldn’t have succeeded anyway. I didn’t want this to devolve into an “I hate those lazy fat people” rant. Instead, I wanted to explore why a group of people would get so upset over an ostensibly positive change. Another blogger (below) commented that the food that Disney offers at their park is, by and large, pretty unhealthy fare. Okay, that’s hard to argue with, but NAAFA didn’t mention hypocrisy as one of their reasons for being offended.
Disney World’s Facebook page just posted about the new heathy options on their kids menus.