Only ourselves to blame

“Do not feed doughnuts to your obese children You will regret it when they’re in their teens ‘Maccas’ might shut them up now that they’re seven But they won’t forgive you when they’re getting picked last for PE Don’t you see?

So you’re telling me that your family Has a history of obesity? You’ve got a wire loose in your pituitary? ‘It’s just the way that God made me?’

You can blame it on biology You can blame your physiology You can point to genealogy Or your social anthropology

And you, you should feel ashamed For you have only got yourself to blame Your six-year-old miniature Jabba the Hut Eating half-melted Mars bars from the folds of his gut

Perhaps you’ll consider A cut-back on Krispy Kreme doughnuts And popcorn in bucket-sized boxes And microwave pizza or drive-through McDonald’s For weeknightly dinners in front of the TV And notes to the phys-ed instructor saying Timmy has asthma but he really just gets short of breath Cause he’s 35 kilos above the ideal weight Of 35 kilos for a nine-year-old boy” (Tim Minchin, “Fat Children,” from the album “So Rock”)

Comedian Tim Minchin is very funny and also very politically incorrect. Which is perhaps only just as well that the only voices

It is now considered taboo in polite circles to refer to someone’s weight in what may be construed to be a pejorative manner–even if it is intended to be so or not

of reason that we hear these days on the subject of obesity are from people like him.

It is now considered taboo in polite circles to refer to someone’s weight in what may be construed to be a pejorative manner–even if it is intended to be so or not.

There was a story told once of a breathless and nervous lady, who had just been sideswiped by someone riding a motorbike in London. When asked by a British bobby who had hit her, she informed the policeman that it was “a fat bloke on a motorcycle.” Whereupon, instead of commiserating with her misfortune, the bobby promptly admonished her for calling the hit-andrun driver “fat.” It is a strange world we live in, indeed!

It’s easy enough to deal with the science of weight loss. The facts are now available for everyone out there who cares to do a bit of research. But beyond the facts are the formidable obstacles that lie in the way of getting to the crux of the problem.

For one, there are powerful interests involved, that will fight fire with fire so their profits don’t go down in flames over the vilification of sugar and junk carbohydrates that litter the food scene today. And with all their money and marketing savvy, they are all very powerful foes to fight indeed.

And another fat obstacle? The political correctness that now seems to paralyze and incapacitate our ability to call out an obvious wrong, even when it is staring us in the face. Like the London bobby in our example.

That’s why we have to rely on comedians like Tim, to tell us that when it comes the fat scourge– “we should feel ashamed, for we have only got ourselves to blame.”