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Childhood Obesity Campaign Analysis

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Across the nation childhood obesity has been slowly increasing over the past few decades and is now considered an epidemic. Georgia just so happens to hold the 2nd highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation. With more and more obese children being treated for health problems normally seen in adults and some of the top professionals at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta decided the problem needed to be addressed. With an effort to reverse the ever growing epidemic of childhood obesity, they launched the Strong4life program in 2011. With the Strong4life program in place they decided to reach out and bring awareness to the public by using signs, posters, and billboards in and around the Atlanta area and by eventually using television to spread …show more content…

We know that stigmatization leads to lower self-esteem, potential depression. We know that kids will engage in physical activity less because they feel like they’re going to be embarrassed. So there are all these other negative effects,” (Lohr.) Maybe he doesn’t realize that some people need a little tough love and knowledge to help make a change. Some need a little kick in the rump or a wake-up call as some would say. And maybe he doesn’t realize that many problems don’t get solved by “going with the flow”, no they are not solved until they have been addressed and sometimes that means showing the ugly side of the problem. Another article I found titled “Why is Georgia shaming Fat Children?” implies that the program “denounces the problem without solution.” I guess maybe they didn’t look into the actual Strong4life program and what all it has to offer. With all those opposing the ads, a statement I would like share is best stated by Linda Matzigkeit, vice president of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, “This is a medical crisis, and I can say if you don’t believe me, come visit our hospital and see the kids we are now taking care of – that more and more have Type 2 diabetes, have hypertension, need knee replacements – and it’s breaking our heart to see these adult-type disease in the …show more content…

They were simply created to get people thinking and talking and that is just what people did. The ads were made to catch people’s attention. They were stark and in your face and said wake up Georgia, you have a problem so do something about it. With childhood obesity on the rise and health problems increasing, this is what Georgia needed to see. Some kids need tough love and so do some parents to realize they need to make a move and do what’s best for their children. We are to lead our children by example and do what is best for them so that they can move forward in the stages of life and take on the world. They are our future and continuation of life, so why would we let them harm their

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