Maybe I'll have some carrots instead of some Combos because I'm worth it.

Sorry, Lynn, but it just doesn't work that way.

Fat kids/people will have Combos instead of carrots because Combos taste good, and carrots have no real taste and give no salty snack or sugary snack rush.

It's all about the endorphin rush - whether you hate yourself or love yourself - to a fatso.

I know this because I myself am a formerly morbidly obese boy-turned-man who is finally getting over my food addiction and getting into shape. It is/has been a painful, slow, frustrating process.

{And by the way: I did NOT get fat because of being bombarded by commercials for junk food. If you follow that logic, then I should be a raging alcoholic because of all the beer ads I saw as a kid, shouldn't I? Yet I hardly ever drink.

My point is: I take responsibility for my obesity; nobody ever forced me to eat unhealthily - it was my choice/fault, and I am now thankfully making better choices...}

I used to snack at night on ice cream, Snickers bars, Pringles, hot chocolate etc.; now, at most I eat a stick of celery and glass of water to fill me up before bed....

Am I happy with that? Hell no! And it ain't cause of low self-esteem....it's because Snickers, ice cream & Pringles taste good to me...and frickin' celery does not.

But I do it nonetheless, because I don't want to be a tub of lard anymore. I want to be athletic. I want to STOP shopping in "Big & Tall" sections of stores. I don't want to get diabetes, high blood pressure, arthlerosclerosis, metabolic X syndrome etc. - and die a young, bloated corpse.

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And frankly, Lynn, if you DO genuinely care about the overall well-being of fat kids, then you and others who share your attitude would do well to understand this: overlooking childhood obesity because you're scared of injuring kids' self-esteem is much more abusive/hurtful to these youngsters because of the myriad health problems their obesity will cause...probably sooner than you think!

Parents, educators et al: take the risk of hurting their feelings now, and talk to kids about losing the fat by exercising and healthy eating. They may sulk, or get sad and/or angry...but they will ultimately live much happier, LONGER lives from your efforts.

"...But they might as well feel more comfortable in their skin as they determine how they're going to get there."

I don't disagree with that - but the problem is this: why would an overweight kid bother at all about how "they're going to get there" when these stores essentially tell them the message that it's okay to be and remain obese ??

It's one thing to have plus-size clothing sections, say, at Sears - which NEITHER excoriate NOR celebrate obesity in children and adults...

...but it's another thing to have a shop like Torrid that makes this pitch: "It's okay to stay obese, and we have great clothes for you that will make you feel good/keep you in denial about being grossly overweight (so you'll never have to acknowledge that you need to have healthier nutrition) !!"

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Yes, I remember what it was like to be an adolescent - and how fragile esteem and feelings were back then.

But clothing stores which implicitly advocate maintaining a status quo in dealing with the obesity epidemic are not helpful to these kids. (Btw: do you think Torrid has ANY interest in its customers getting to better health?

After all, the more overweight girls who make the effort and get to a healthier BMI/fitness level, the less profit there is to be made for Torrid and the like, no?)

BOTTOM LINE: If a fat kid is told - explicitly or implicitly - that it's perfectly alright to stay the weight that they are at, then WHY ON EARTH would they ever see the need to become healthier?

If the business/social world simply keeps accomodating obese people because they are too afraid/wary of respectfully addressing the latter's unhealthy habits....then they/we are simply enabling food addicts.

Would anyone who cares turn a blind eye to a teenager's alcoholism, because they are afraid intervening would wound them emotionally?

Please, stop the enabling. You can be gentle, compassionate and STILL resolute in addressing your children's diet and nutrition....

It is time to break the status quo. It is not hysterical to say that lives (and quality of lives) are at stake, people.

P.S. - For anyone who is overweight and/or has close relatives & friends who are obese, please check out (and spread the word) about the show "The Biggest Loser" on NBC. Yes, it is chockfull of typical, cheesy reality-TV antics - but the stories, hard/painful work and triumphs of the contestants are very inspiring, at least to me...