No Candy For You, You Are Too Fat

I know that some social pressure may help getting people to adapt healthier habits, but scolding kids on Halloween, right in front of their peers?

A Little Halloween Story

Imagine you are ten years old, a little chubby, and oh so looking forward to Halloween.

Because some kids at school tease you about your weight, but on Halloween it doesn’t matter. You put on your Buzz Lightyear costume and you are like someone else. You feel cool and get to participate in a fun group activity.

This Halloween everything goes as swell as always, and you and your friends already got some delicious M&M’s, Hershey’s and other good stuff. Just one last house, you think, because the one on the right oozes  “we have great Halloween candy” out of every pumpkin and lantern.

Your little group walks over, does its routine and, just as thought, the woman who opens has some of the greatest sweets imaginable. Everyone gets a nice helping. Everyone, that is, but you. You get a note for your parents, saying:

Your child is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season. My hope is that you step up as parents and ration candy this Halloween.

“So what did you get?” Frank asks, the boy who makes jokes about your weight on the 364 other days of the year. “A note,” you reply. Frank reads it and laughs. “She thinks you are too fat for candy.” You know that next day the whole school will know it.

Is That Ok?

Pretty little story? Unfortunately it isn’t fiction, it’s reality. Handing out the above note to overweight children is what a North Dakota woman plans for this year. And it makes me wonder if doing this is ok.

It might be well-intentioned, but in my opinion also is very insensitive. Not to mention that the candy given out on Halloween doesn’t matter all that much. In the grand scheme of things, an overweight child needs a bit more help than that.

How Would You React?

If that happened to your child, how would you react? Or, if you don’t have any children, how would it have made you feel if something like this happened to you at that age? On the other hand, do you think the woman has a point?

Picture courtesy of “slgckgc“.