Phat....

I overheard a couple of middle school children talking the other day. One of the things they said disturbed me to my core. “Yea, if she gets all ‘A’s then her father is going to pay for liposuction and a tummy tuck”. “I dunno if she can. She is in my Science Class and has a low “B”.” These are PRETEENS! What is going on? Has body image gotten that distorted. Of course we have programs like “Extreme Makeover” and “The Swan” to show our children that obsession with body image is normal.

I know that I probably know more people that have had some sort of cosmetic surgery, but there is one instance that stands out for me. There was an actress I had worked with in Atlanta at various theater. Nice person, beautiful singing voice. She went to have a tummy tuck because she felt it would help her career wise. Now this woman was by no means fat. She had a bit of pudge around the middle that seemed to resist all the exercising she was doing. Her parents were on the heavy side of the scales. Something went wrong with the anesthetic and she had an allergic reaction. She lost her singing ability. She can still sing, but not the way she did. All for the possibility of looking better.

I know that obesity is one of the major health problem in America, but do we really need to be teaching our children the quick fix solution to an ongoing concern? Surgery and fad diets are not the answer. I will always remember the Bloom County strip that had Opus trying all these fad diets and Milo is shouting at him “Eat less and Exercise More!” There it is, the magic bullet. It may not be a quick fix, but it works.