Medics want obesity warnings on clothing...

I saw this on Fox news tonight... and found an article that I pasted below... Obesity has become a problem worldwide and especially in the US. Ok, yeah, I guess some people need the reminder, but somehow I think this might be going overboard. I know I am not "skinny" but I don't need a tag to tell me "hey you're fucking fat!" cause you know what? I'm not. Either way, I think that it is hard enough for some people looking at just the number on the tags of clothing let alone having a tag saying that they're overweight. If you're overweight, you most likely already know it. Sure, people may get help to lose weight because their clothing tag tells them to, but maybe it's going to have an effect on their self esteem. I wear a size 12 pants currently, I don't think I'm fat, but yeah, I guess I could be trimmer, but by no means do I need a reminder in my pants.


Large-sized clothing should carry tags with an obesity helpline number, a British Medical Journal report says.
The report, compiled by a group of public health professionals, recommends the phone numbers be placed on tags on women's garments sized 16 and above (on the news they said US womens size 12 or above) , and on those with a waist measurement of more than 100 centimetres for men.

Clothes with waist measurements of more than 92cm for boys and 79cm for girls should also have the helpline number, the report said.

The report warns that rising levels of obesity could bankrupt Britain's National Health Service (NHS) if left unchecked.

Obesity treatment accounts for nine per cent of the NHS budget.

Other measures recommended by the report to combat the problem include banning the placement of sweets near shop checkouts and at children's eye level, taxing processed foods high in sugar or saturated fat and allowing new urban roads only if they include cycle lanes.

"Medical practice must adapt to the current epidemic of obesity and nutrition-related diseases," the report said.

"The profession must unite the forces of public health and acute services to generate sustainable changes in food and lifestyles: matters at the heart of our cultural identities."

 

Oh man... What the crap is that?! What the hell are they gonna put on the tag? "hey fattie, go lose weight"?! And a helpline number? Makes it sound like they're reaching out to people who are suicidial, not overweight... That is just insane. As you said, most people who are overweight know it, putting it on their clothes isn't gonna help the matter. I'm by no means skinny, but not fat either... And I wear between a size 9 and 13 pants, depending on the store and brand, and I don't want to put on my jeans every day and see a tag that's telling me I'm fat when I'm not! God that just makes me angry...

I think building new roads only with cycle lanes in a good idea, but not for those reasons... And keeping candy away from the "impusle isle" may not be a bad idea... I know that would surely help me out, but that's not something worth making a huge fuss over, there are MUCH more effective ways to help people who are overweight...

GOD!

 

What an insulting, ridiculous idea. People of size KNOW it, they don't need to be insulted every time they buy clothing. What idiot thought of this?

 

Perhaps then they should place warnings about anorexia and ostioporious
on anything less that a size 5 ?

 

Tell me how effective are the warnings on cigarette packages ?

 

clothing manufacturers would never agree. It would drastically reduce sales. Brand X has a label that says I'm obese if I wear a size 12 (which is average for women in the US, and a size I am comfortable being) and Brand Y doesn't. Guess which one I'm gonna buy?

 

I've got a better idea on how to tackle obesity. Quit selling such many crappy junk foods.

 

That is just plain stupid and obnoxious....<_<;;

 

probably one of those assholes who thinks every single overweight person he sees MUST eat 2 supersized big mac meals at mcdonald's three times a day and feels compelled to lecture them incessantly. you know the ones.

 

Take out the chemicals and crap thats in processed foods. Help everyone out.

No need to point a finger

 

why do you need tags to tell you they are overweight??

cant you figure it out just by looking at them?? seriously?? if medics are that ignorant to figure that out, maybe they shouldnt be medics.

 

exactly!!! at least make it even on both sides.
this is just a stupid stupid idea.

 

Yeah I was thinking that too; and obviously that strategy works wonderfully.

I'm pretty sure those larger than 'average' (I mean WTF is average anyway?) are perfectly aware of that fact and could really do without further stigma. It wouldn't solve anything.

 

Seriously though, why a size 12? tell me? why that size? yeah, that happens to be the size I wear (well between a 8 and 12 depending on who makes them as someone else had said as well) but aside from the fact that that is a size I fit in is this:someone who fits into a size 8 could be overweight if they are 4 ft something... so why aren't they concidering height as well as... circumference I guess. Isn't that how they calculate your bmi to begin with? on the flip side someone who is very tall say around 6 ft would be underweight if they fit into a smaller size... i dont' think whoever thought this up really put much thought into it.... but while they're at it if they could come up with a universal sizing chart for all manufacturers I'd appreciate that... i'm sick of buying a 8 in one brand and a 12 in another. at least that'd be useful and make sense.

 

So, was this on any channel other than Fox News?

Because we all know how "fair" and "balanced" their reporting is...

I haven't found any comment about this on cnn.com or BBC news online... Are you sure it wasn't one of Fox's pigheaded pundits blowing steam?

 

If smokers have to put up with it, so should fatties.

Improving their self-esteem isn't the goal; cutting health-care costs is.

 

Well then, to be fair, I think the size zero clothes should have an eating disorder hotline number on them...

 

I have never bought into this one. You are telling me that if I am overweight and smoke, then die at 60 that I would cost more to the state the if I lived to be 100. Bullshit.

Who cares whos fat or who smokes. No one should except for themselves. Freedom of choice!!

 

I honestly don't think the two are comparable. I was a size zero (actually zero was a bit too big) all through highschool, without having an eating disorder. THough I was constantly sent to doctors because of school nurses, granmother, strangers, who thought I must have had something wrong with me to be so small. I wasn't skeleton-thin, I have a tiny frame, and when I was young, I had super-sonic metabolism. People come in all shapes and sizes, and what is healthy for one person may be a sign of serious disease in another. But there's no way to know or to generalize and say "everyone who is such and such height should weigh this much" because we are all different.

 

I was joking.

And, I think they ARE comparable. They both assume.