So, from the BBC, comes the news that fat children reject the idea of weight-loss surgery. Well, it's not known to work for actual long-term weight loss, weight loss isn't known to be good for health (and in many cases can be bad), and has a significant risk of killing the patient. Maybe our education system isn't as bad as the papers say.
42% report being bullied for their size, 58% think that their weight will stop them getting a boyfriend or girlfriend and "a similar percentage" believe that it will harm their career prospects.
Given the relentless media imagery of "fat is bad", those percentages are actually better than I expected. Expect government intervention to increase size-related bullying and condemn fat sexuality shortly.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Obesity is the biggest health challenge we face.
Really? A condition that's arbitrarily defined, has no statistically significant effect on lifespan for most groups, and is undoubtedly less harmful than malnutrition or starvation, is the biggest health challenge we face? I worry about that mindset.
