Stigmatizing Greg Critser's Too Much A Good Thing

In Too Much a Good Thing Greg Critser argues that stigmatizing unhealthy behaviors associated with obesity will decrease this growing epidemic. He also states that the American families are to blame for not placing a dietary restraint with their children. Instead, he says that parents aren’t to blame for the increase of obesity in children. He states, “Closer to home, at least 25% of all Americans under the age nineteen are overweight or obese, a figure that has doubled over the last 30 years and a figure that moved the surgeon general to declare childhood obesity an epidemic” (1). He believes that stigmatizing overeating in children will be a feasible solution to end the increasing epidemic of childhood obesity.
However, Critser has several
The solution is one that may help slow down obesity, but his solution is such a simple solution to such a complex problem. There are many problems associated with obesity; along with there are many solutions to help conquer childhood obesity. Critser is wrong that society can stigmatize overeating without stigmatizing the person engaging in the behavior. “Food for thought: Children’s views on the psychological aspects of childhood obesity” in Educational and Child Psychology, Debbie Mansfield and Georgina Doutre discuss the “psychological aspects of childhood obesity” along with the “children’s views” and “how to protect obese children from stigmatizing effects” (23). Children are being stigmatized for being obese. The children are subject to “negative stereotyping and discrimination by their peers,” and “self-esteem issues, negative body image, depressive symptoms” (Braet, Calamaro and Waite, Hesketh, Koplan, Miller and Downey 24). This proves that Critser’s solution is not going to work. His solution won’t work because, when one is trying to stigmatize the behavior of overeating, then the person who is obese is also subject to the
Children learn through what they see especially when they are at a young age. The “foot soldiers against obesity” is the American family and are needed to put their children on a “dietary restraint” to avoid “gluttony” (1). According to Critser, this saying that the American family is a problem to childhood obesity but later says parents aren’t to blame. Critser uses a strawman tactic saying pressure causes tension by Diamonds. This is true in a sense, but the way Critser uses this saying is that he leaves it at that. He says no more. He doesn’t mention anything else about pressure causing tension. He just quotes Diamonds and what they have to say. The tactic works well in his article, because this is true but it is not linked to his primary solution. “Childhood obesity could be related to the ignorance or denial of the negative consequences from an individual or family perspective” (Davidson and Birch 24). Critser may agree with this. “On the other hand, parental acceptance and lack of concern regarding weight issues can be a protective factor for the self-esteem of overweight children” (Stradmeijer 24). A study on obese children concluded that participants are “accepting attitudes and empathy towards obese children,” obese children make their own choices over their own “destiny” (Mansfield and Doutre 27). There were also negative consequences linked to obesity. Being obese caused a lack of friends