This is a challenging problem. And I am curious about your perspective and possible approaches.

There is a double problem because in one end you have every sensitive public health official and health care provider grilling the public about healthy eating, which in a child’s mind translates to “don’t eat”, so people feel guilty about eating. In the other hand we do have a problem with childhood obesity, which have no doubt, will evolve in obesity as an adult. But then we live in a society where most foods are processed and come to the table in boxes. So it is not surprising that especially if you have no resources (no money= no time to cook) the individual will be overweight.

But then we spread the message of please watch your diet, and even when you are watching a commercial about Weight Watchers you get the impression that having a healthy weight is only about being skinny instead of having a body that allows you to do whatever you want to do (dance, run, have sex, whatever it is) and avoiding disease rather than about having a particular physique.

So it seems that all our messages misfire. I want to risk here that it is because we don’t care much about each other, and mostly about profit, and the next quarter instead of the long run.

Thank you for all your writing, Elle.