"It's not about the weight."
That's what Dr. Leora Pinhas, head of the eating disorders program at the Hospital for Sick Children, says time and time again about childhood obesity. She says it about obesity in general, actually. And this year at the Sandbox Conference, which is aimed at improving the health outcomes of Canadian kids, I finally fully understood what she means.
With my history, I'm surprised it took me this long to 'get it'.
Let me explain: I have a bit of a history with weight. I was a chubby teenager who was very unhappy with her body. I lost 30 pounds when I started to run regularly, and that changed my life for the better. After having a baby, my weight has gone up 50 pounds and down 50 pounds (not including baby!) over a bit of a tough journey. But at one point when I was still 40 pounds heavier than I am now, I was still running marathons. Full marathons (42.2K). My time wasn't as good, but I was healthier than your average bear. By far.
And yet the BMI said I was well into the overweight category. To run a marathon, they say you are in at a level of cardiovascular health that makes you one in 10,000 North Americans.
So to have judged my health based on my weight, as we do with obese kids, is to potentially misjudge the situation. Do they like to run around and play? Do they eat their vegetables? Do they have genetics that make them heavy kids no matter what they do? These are questions, Pinhas says, that are often simply not asked.
And what's worse, is that by focusing on the weight, focusing on how much they should lose, focusing on cutting out this food or reducing that amount, we so often actually cause the problem to escalate.
This approach is actually leading to fewer kids eating vegetables and whole grains, fewer kids getting exercise, more true disordered eating and shorter lifespans in the end. And it doesn't lead to weight loss!
This is one doctor we all need to start listening to.
Read the article I've written about what Pinhas says parents can do if they are worried about their child's relationship with food and find out more about what she has to say about how it's not about the weight.
