August 21, 2008
-
Fat Child
I posted about how a man caught a 21 pound, 1 ounce catfish using his daughter’s Barbie fishing rod.
In the comment section, some of the conversation focused on how overweight the little girl is. She is 3 years old.
Is the girl so fat that it is worth noting?
Comments (155)
DUDE WHAT A CHUBBY LITTLE FUCKER
I’d be concerned, but I wouldn’t say anything mean or snarky. The girl’s feelings don’t deserve to be hurt because of something she can’t help.
Pick on the tiny person,Dan. Go ahead..
Yep. And look at him, he can barely hold the fish up.
well, she is somewhat overweight for a three-year-old, but that might change as she gets older.
oh come on, she’s just a child! but then, it usually starts off as being a chubby kid. well, she can grow up going both fats, balloon up from there, or get skinny. anyway as of now she’s just a kid. let her be.
I MEAN JESUS IT’S LIKE A MANATEE
she’s relatively overweight for being three. hopefully she’ll grow out of it, for her health’s sake?
I guess it’s worth noting because her father is overweight, so people assume they (her parents) are slowly guiding her towards the same direction. Genetics are not on her side, probably, but maybe it’s just baby fat?
No. Chubby/fat kids have always been around. Being a jerk to them only makes them grow up to join the anorexics blogring.
How about some compassion, people?!?
(And did no one comment about how tall she is, too? Seriously, my daughter is almost five and she’s not that tall! She is just a big girl for her age right now. Too early to be that worried.)
Poor kidlet. It’s obvious keeping in shape is an issue the entire family chooses to ignore. Not little chubby kid’s fault.
@Drakonskyr - oh nowwww you come out. Meanie
But its still nice to see your fat face. “Daniel”
I would have never thought a morbidly obese three-year-old would make me feel good about my own weight.
She doesn’t look that bad to me. A little chubby, but it’s not unusual at that age to put on weight before a growth spurt. She does look very tall for 3 years old, though.
No it’s not worth noting, however, people will because they are so obsessed with outer appearances.
@SpiritualBattlefield - Tiny? What do you mean tiny?
Oh, and is Slim Fast safe for children?
@saintvi - She IS tall for her age.
=[
@Powerpal2015 - I wasnt talking about your mom… I was talking about the little girl.
@LadyValkyrie37 - No it’s not worth noting, however, people will because they are so obsessed with outer appearances.
Sadly, human vision goes only skin deep.
Yes, she is but her grandfather is also quite heavyset.
she’s only 3, let’s worry when she’s 15
Nope, not worth noting at all. I was chubby when I was a little kid,
then I grew out of it. Little kids don’t need to be pole thin like self
conscious adults do.
Some things are assumed to be genetic, others are a choice, and it is amazing the sides people take. All depending on what we are talking about.
But is she only 3, so bringing it up is simply being mean.
@heyjulsiscoo - guess it’s worth noting because her father is overweight, so people assume they (her parents) are slowly guiding her towards the same direction. Genetics are not on her side, probably, but maybe it’s just baby fat?
That about sums up my thought. The family obesity could also be influenced by a shared lifestyle.
I don’t know. I HATE it when people are mean to other people. Hint hint.
But it would be good for her to eat healthy. I think if someone is overweight their whole life it can feel like a part of their identity and something they can’t control. They can feel trapped and that sucks. Better help her lose weight now before she has to fight years of habitual over eating. She is only a few pounds overweight now, but as an adult she could wind up being many many lbs overweight with slower metabolism and then if she wants to lose weight it could be a lot harder. Also, better to teach her to stop eating when she is full and to enjoy foods that are higher nutrition and lower crap value while she is young. But that would be up to her parents. I learned poor eating habits as a kid and now it is a lot of effort to be healthy. I wish someone had told me how to be happy without over eating and to not look to food for comfort. I intend to teach my kids self control with food.
She’s still cute anyway.
I dunno. Weight is a touchy subject. Especially for a lot of women in this country. Thanks America for putting the fashion mags right next to the Oreos.
@Drakonskyr - lmao
Well, she’s three. Three year olds can be pudgy.
Wow your original picture had one of the most bigoted, mean spirited and ignorant comments I have ever seen
Everyone is different when they were kids. I was a little chubby. It just happens. Even if she continues to be chubby before she hits puberty, she could very easily drop the weight. Everyone’s body chemistry is different. It would be worth noting if she were morbidly obese.
Catching the catfish wasn’t worth anything to begin with.
But her weight isn’t her fault. It’s the fault of abusive parents.
there’s a difference between full and obese. if your child is obese it is likely s/he will stay like that.
3 years old!? Phew she’s big, and not just fat, she is tall too. I think her overall size is just large.. maybe a thyroid/other brain issue. That’s so mean of people to ridicule the baby!
@maebemaebenot - Agreed.
@huginn - physically yes. However, a human has the ability to learn to “look” beyond outer appearances and learn to get to know the person first before making snap judgements. It’s not easy for most, but a human can learn.
The kid has a chance to be more healthy. The dad however looks like he is ready to collapse in a apoplectic seizure. Give him oxygen quick, I think the fish wore him out!
@trunthepaige - To me, mentioning the fact that she is overweight is not intended as an attack on her personally; obviously, she can’t go out and buy healthier food. Instead, it is an attack on the unhealthy way her parents are raising her.
@Drakonskyr - I MEAN JESUS IT’S LIKE A MANATEE
Jesus put the girl on earth to be made fun of. But I don’t worry, if it is in God’s plan for her to be happy, he’d bless her with weight-loss.
@SpiritualBattlefield - I like how you defend the tiny persons
@SpiritualBattlefield - Now, see that makes even less sense. Who said anything, between the two of us, about moms? And exactly my point! The little girl is anything but little!
@la_faerie_joyeuse - Oh so you’re one of those type of people, eh? So what’s the weight limit of the average female child, age 3, before the authorities should be called in, label the parents as abusive and take the child away? At what age should the authorities stop enforcing a weight limit rule on a child? After all, there comes a time in every parent’s life when you can’t be there every second of every day and keep them from eating what they want to eat. You’re worried about a chubby 3 year old who is actually very tall for her age group to begin with when there are kids out there who are really being abused, physically, emotionally, and sexually. I’m not saying that teaching your children bad eating habits is a good thing. It’s bad. However, it’s NOT abusive. Hell, if you’re way of thinking was adopted and enforced by CPS most of America’s children would be in the hands of CPS! It’s America… sadly we are one FAT FUCKING NATION with FAT FUCKING KIDS! If you lived my life you would know what being abused was really about.
Bleh
Yes it is, sadly.
I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t posted this.
Uhh…the kid’s a TODDLER right?
I wouldn’t worry about it.
FUN FACT: I BELIEVE when I was 3 and 1/2 years old, I used to be a little chub…and now I’m a lean mean (ghostly pale lol ) handsome specimen of manliness!!
She’ll grow out of it…well…hopefully!
@la_faerie_joyeuse - that is not all you said. and it was based on almost nothing you could possibly know for a fact. You based it all on the fact that holding that heavy fish in the hot summer sun made him look rather hot unhappy and less than attractive.
Your words were based only on a picture.
“poor, uneducated, unintelligent, emotionally
stunted, psychologically damaged, living so far away from any cultural
center that they have no hope of glimpsing any other world view, and
they’re overweight”
Yep those are some of the most ignorant and hateful of words. As bad as I have ever seen around here. And that is saying something. And you had been nicer than normal up to now.
She’s a little chubby but I don’t think it’s that notable.
@LadyValkyrie37 - We have already been over this before. I have been abused, too – I know how horrible it is. We don’t need to play the “I’ve been hurt worse” game – that gets us absolutely nowhere. If you’ve forgotten my story so quickly, I’ll sum it up: starvation, beatings, yelling, social ostracization, racism, illness, superstition, and pretty much any other non-sexual type of abuse that you can envision that can be wrecked upon a child.
I don’t think obesity should be one of the main things that we should target as warning signs in children, but in an ideal world, children should have a healthy BMI. By “healthy” I mean one that will not put the child at risk for serious health complications. I’m not a doctor; I don’t know when this is. I could look it up, but there’s no real point.
And the age cutoff? I’d say around 12, they are independent enough to make at least some of their own eating choices.
I could justify why it’s abuse (in short, it can do long-term damage to the child’s health that could be impossible to undo, among other things), but I’m too tired to construct an argument. If you’re still interested in discussing this, send me a message and we can talk tomorrow. ‘Night.
Wtf. Seriously people need to look in the mirror!
THEY ARENT PERFECT!
Xo
Wtf. Seriously people need to look in the mirror!
THEY ARENT PERFECT!
Xo
@valis10 - That is her grandfather not her father. He is not at all a young man
@trunthepaige - I don’t get how those words are hateful.
The last two things are very obviously true from the picture and news article.
The first two are very, very likely based on their location and choice of pastime.
The middle three are harder to support, and based on personal experiences in similar regions throughout my life.
Plus, notice that I didn’t bring up any of these things until asked. Those weren’t my first comments on seeing the picture and article – my first thought was that they looked unhappy. When someone asked why, I gave my best answer.
I’ve been nicer because I’ve been much less stressed in general and had more time to consider people’s potential misinterpretations of my answers. But school is starting again, so you can expect the bitch to come back out. Well, if she comes out at all – she will have much less time for xanga starting in about a week.
yes. I think it’s absolutely SICK to see extremely overweight children. Even 3 year olds! It’s horrible. They are abusing their children.
wow~~~
@la_faerie_joyeuse - The article said no more than the picture. Other than the fact he fought that fish for a half an hour. the old man was hot and tired. So would you enjoy a total psychological, educational and economic profile based only on your picture?
Better yet show us a picture of yourself after you take a run in the hot sun for half an hour.
@trunthepaige - I was almost sure that la_faerie_joyeuse was being sarcastic in her “mean” photo comment.
HONESTLY, I think that it isn’t our place to make note of whether the girl is overweight or not. It is up to her father or, if the mother is still around, then to the mother or someone close in the family. We each have our own opinion and it’s good to note what they are, but please stop being so demeaning to others. and oh my goodness, that fish is huge..did he really catch it with the Barbie pole? that’s so awesome!
@huginn - As was I, until she defended her statements repeatedly.
@trunthepaige - makes no difference. He still looks like he is ready to drop dead at any moment
it’s genetics, man… look at the father! she is never gonna be a gymnast, but she’ll probably be able to catch more fish than any of us.
It’s not worth noting, but at the same time, it doesn’t suprise me. Parents are so eager to feed their kids McDonalds for dinner every week because it’s cheaper and more convinient than buying a week’s worth of groceries containing a variety of fruits and veggies.
Oh well.
@trunthepaige - and the fish isn’t that big!
She’ll probably grow out of it as it’s quite common for younger children to be a little overweight.
I find it hard to believe the man caught a catfish of that size using a Barbie rod..
aww c’mon now…when she’s little, she needs some cushion in case she falls.
:]
and hey, just cause she’s a little chubby don’t mean she ain’t somebody’s little angel… and they seem to be country folk, so that person may have automatic weapons.
@valis10 - You hold a 21 pound fish out at arms length like he is doing, and hold it still for a picture. Do that after a half hour fight to bring it in. Then tell me it is not that heavy
@huginn - and as you can see she meant every word she said. I have seen her rip people she thinks are ugly before. If she was a man, she would have a no fat chicks sticker in her car window
No… she will probably grow a few inches soon and even out.
Judging by the Pops, it’s either genetics or the way the family eats. It’s probably not going to change unless someone else intervenes or the girl gets old enough to make her own decisions.
For three, that is kind of unhealthy. People say how too much talk would make young children turn anorexic, but ignoring the problem can lead to Type 2 diabetes at the age of six…. As a nation we are getting too overweight, the place to start fighting it is by instilling healthy habits in our children.
it seems hereditary…..
She’s three. Why not talk about how big her DAD is?
Obviously it’s worth blogging about. Honestly, Dan, I understand the importance of discussing social issues, but do we really have to poll your readers about the weight of a 3 year old girl? I think it’s a bit much.
Um No
sadly I don’t agree with Drakonskyr in calling a 3 year old a fat fucker. wtf?
I’d like to take a moment to focus attention on how the guy is uglier than the fish. Yikes!
I actually think the little girl is taking a picture with her parents.
thats soooo sad,
maybe its the parents fault, theyre fat, and they dont see anythign wrong with it either i guess…. so she doenst either?!
I guess it runs in the family….
She is a bit tall for a 3 year old (IMO) but….whatever. They’re not paying her medical bills so it shouldn’t matter.
no…if anyone’s overweight it’s the guy not her.
Well, I didn’t notice it until now.
This is absolutely the perfect example of how focused our society is on outer issues. I have an eating disorder – and no itsn’t because I want to be famous, look at ‘thinspiration’ with 13 year olds,i was never a chubby kid, and it’s actually a disease not a lifestyle, as some people think. I think that fot the entire point of the post to become focused on the fact that the girl is overweight is just a damn shame. Besides I’ve seen much, much worse. The pictures about a effing fish the dude caught? Why did it become so shallow as to focus on her weight? Like anyone cares about her medical problems or reasons – sounds like they are just looking at her and saying ‘fat slob.’ Sad.
that was the first thing I thought when I saw the picture. in my defense, I am currently dieting, so it’s on my mind.
also, I was a fat girl in school – I got teased about it, and had low self esteem, so I’m always worried about the weight of the little ones.
@Drakonskyr - That’s pretty cold, dude, whether it’s true or not. And totally, completely not at all waht the post was even about. Hope you just have a sense of humor there and aren’t as ignorant as you sound – but then, maybe you aren’t ignorant at all, just what they would call brutally honest.
@Drakonskyr - AAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
In all fairness, the fish is bigger than the kid.
hahaha, I blame it all on the parents~
Yes.
*takes massive bite of ice cream*
It’s deplorable.
When I saw her the first thing I thought is WOW she is tall for being 3. I automatically assumed her very cute chubbyness is a result of her being so tall and growing so fast. I do not consider her to be obese. Also as an onlooker I would NEVER say anything about her weight for a couple reasons.
1. I am not skinny myself. When I was little I struggled to keep the weight on. Now that I am grown I struggle in the other direction.
2. The could be a medical reason for her weight. I don’t just mean that she has hand to mouth syndrome either.
To me it looks like baby fat. The fact that her daddy takes her fishing and probably other stuff means she is most likely not sitting around being lazy.
She is beautiful. When will this world learn to look beyond the outer layer. It is people that make an issue of her appearance that make people like me never want to leave my house. It is probably those same people that think it is ok to whisper cruel things or point and laugh at my daughter and I when we walk into a store or ride bikes. Grow up people!
@la_faerie_joyeuse - Wow you looked at the picture and instantly saw the baby eating big macs and french fries. You have no clue how she eats.
Just because she is not “a normal 3 yr old” does NOT make her parents abusive. At least her parent *at least the one pictured* are spending time with her and probably not plopping her in front of a TV.
Fishing unless you have never been is a very important pass time in lots of families and just because you think it is unworthy doesn’t mean that it is. Also catching a 21 pound fish is one hell of a work out. No easy task to say the least. Especially with a barbie pole. My dad used to loose lots of weight in the summers from fly fishing and snag fishing *we lived in the stix in Lousiana* for hours when I was a kid.
Just my opinion. You sound pretty young maybe that is why your comments sound harsh when you don’t intend them to.
My God what the hell is wrong with society that we turn weight into a moral issue.
She is not that heavy. My daughter has a heavier kid in her team (5 year old) and she runs just as much as my daughter that is skinny. Not worth noting esp. in the rude way that it was…..
Well.. it seems to run in the family. Perhaps one can hope it’s a genetic thing and not a lifestyle choice. But it is probably the latter.
Too .. complicated … brain … hurting …
Child services needs to be called.
That little girl is horribly abused, her parents cannot take care of her.
No, but the guy is.
No.
I mean, I have a eight year old cousin who’s bigger than that, and a little taller. He’s not dying or anything.
@Drakonskyr - I bet you’re never having kids, right?
She isn’t that fat. My god, sometimes you can be a real ass.
Nah, everything in that picture is fat. She matches.
Unfortunately the parents’ diet tends to carry over to their child. I have yet to see skinny parents with a fat child (unless, of course, the child has a medical condition or genes that “causes” them to be overweight). I mean, if you have donuts for breakfast every day, cream puffs for lunch, and ice cream for dinner, I don’t think you’ll find a child on earth that will say, “mom, can I please have a salad with sprouts instead”.
Maybe this is horrible of me… but I think it’s a form of child abuse to let a kid get that overweight at such a young age.
It’s not hard to cook healthy meals! Then again, it looks like the dad has some issues with understanding or controlling his diet.
I still think it’s mean to make fun of the girl… it’s NOT her fault!
The Dad took his girl fishing,they do things together,that is saying a lot right there.She was not infront of the TV all day.
I think her weight should be noted. It can be dangerous for her health if she gets to be as big as her father!
well YES especially for 3
@one_trached_momma - Look, I know that I personally would have much rather looked like that than the emaciated form I did have as a child. But either way is still wrong. Find me a kid who eats healthy food – no matter how much of it – who looks like that girl.
I grew up in a backwards culture and family, and I resented every minute of it. It stifled my growth as an individual. It made me miserable. It attempted to instill racist, classist values into my young mind. I have seen other parents do this to countless other children, and I very strongly suspect that she’s one of them. If you grew up with poor, white, racist, classist parents in the middle of the South, then I will respect your opinion on the matter. If you didn’t, then you have no idea what sorts of things I’ve seen and experienced that caused me to make – and still cause me to stand behind – my statements.
Wow, she’s 3?? I would worry if that were my child, but I wouldn’t say cruel things about the girl.
Yes. And so is the dad. How did he pull that fish out of the water without breaking the pole??? Little sunfish bend my pole!
Nope. I think she’s fine. I’ve seen little kids that are far larger than she is. It might become an issue when she’s older, though.
She’s definitely fat, but worth noting? not really. In our society she’s, unfortunately, pretty typical.
I was appalled by the comments on the previous post. They mainly came from one person and not only picked on her weight but also that she was unhappy, uneducated and everything else based on her appearance and where she came from!!
The poor girl is 3!! she looks scared and shy in the photo so is cuddling up to her grandpa!! What is wrong with you people if a girl who is a little chubby…not TOO chubby…is out there in the world doing something as innocent as fishing with her grandpa?!
There was absolutely NO NEED for the back lash this photo received!!
it would only be worth noting to a shallow, concieted person…
the little girl is cute, and looks just like her daddy. (it’s kinda scary though that they both also kinda look like the fish.)
For all you people who said, ” i was a little chubby at 3″ chubby and being obese are 2 different things. And being fat when you’re young definitely has impact. When young kids get teased at school (and yes kids are just as mean when they’re younger) gives them low self esteem.
The potential impact when they grow up could be enormous. I grew up with a friend of mine .. who’s sister had similar problems. When she was young she was fat. She grew up to be really pretty, but she didn’t know it because of her low self esteem.
maybe the grandfather is short. she is a little chubby, but it wasn’t worth noting because a lot of kids are chubby at that age.
I think that the only reason to worry would be when you notice how her grandfather looks. I work at a pool and every day it saddens me to see kids who are 3 or 4 years old being taught to eat the same way that their parents do, when their parents are extremely overweight. I think kids that age should be given better choices so that they grow up learning to be healthy.
@Breezy1579 - Perhaps Drakonskyr was talking about the fish. Perhaps. Though he is well known for his sarcastic and satirical tone.
Well…uh….it could be baby fat, but I’ve been around alot of three year olds, and I would tend to lean towards really overweight rather then pudgy.
Not when you’re supposed to be talking about the fish….
Actually since shes so tall she doesnt look that fat either. Like someone else said, lets wait til she is 15 before we start to worry too much.
she looks like she is 7!!! Of course!!! i cannot believe that she is only 3!!! thats not healthy at all
that’s what happens when parents let you eat cheetos and play video games all day long ~ jack
Some chubby kids become slender as they grow, depending on diet and exercise. Unfortunately, the dad does not appear to be too slender, so I wonder if the girl will follow daddy and mommy’s diet and exercise pattern.
No, not really.
=[
I would say it isn’t worth noting. It’s rude in my opinion to comment on weight unless you know the person’s eating habits, exercise habits, and genetic history. I think people focus on the weight factor too much. People’s bodies are all too different and the world needs to respect that.
She IS her father’s daughter, isn’t she?? I’d suggest a more strenuous regimen of fitness for that family besides fishing!
Seriously, though; if children have inherited an endomorphic body type from a parent, they need to have early attention in promoting healthy and active habits for their future well-being. Otherwise (like me!) they’ll be fighting a weight problem all their lives. Being overweight in childhood can bring about future health difficulties and, also, retard social development. Children can be unmerciful to the “fat kid” in their midst… especially little girls.
@TheKiwiIntoxication - I wouldn’t say the little girl is anything to worry about but in a general sense, 15 is a little old to start worrying about your weight. It is proven that the earlier you start a healthy balanced diet in a child (some even say for the mother while she is carrying the child), the better off they’ll be the rest of their life in the physical sense. I know from experience. At 14, I was very much overweight and it took many years to get if back off.
yeah the girl is fat but so wat shel grow out of it n arnt ppl trying to make fat ppl feel good about themselves now! i fink it wud be kinda cool to be fat for a day id roll down a hill
Seriously, I’d rather see that the kid was overweight than starved. Have you seen all of the stories in the news about people that starve their kids to death?
not for superficial reasons. but out of concern for her health, yeah, it’s notable. the number of children with diabetes and increased risk of heart disease in their early adult life is increasing at an alarming rate. gotta take care of our kids, ya know!
@Drakonskyr - I couldnt help but lol.
Who cares if the kid is overweight? The family thats who.
yeah. i think definitely. theres a difference between chubby three year old (which i was) and a three year old with a potential weight problem.
well not really.. with her dad next to her… it kinda makes sense…
i think it’s sad that we live in such a superficial world that an overweight child is the first thing we notice. shame on all of you making nasty comments about a 3 year old little girl. she certainly can’t help that she is overweight. and there is no way for us to know if she or her family have some kind of medical disorder that causes her to be this way. and even if they don’t…. who are you to judge?
drak’s a bitch… but the girl is a cutie =D
its just babyfat. she looks tall for 3 also
yes it has to be mentioned (well, IN TERMS OF HEALTH) cause i swear it looks like she’s gonna have a heart attack soon.
poor girl.
She’s just a little girl… I know a lot of people who were really overweight when they were younger, but now are super thin. A lot of kids go through “fat phases.” I did… in middle school. Ew, I don’t want to think about it.
@Krissy_Cole - yeah, no kidding, that little girl is also TALL for a three year old. I had three kids, and I teach kindergartners, and she looks to be 5 or 6, not three.
My son was a very chubby baby and three year old, but by 4 and 5, he had really slimmed down. Don’t give kids a “fat” complex when they’re young….it usually makes things much worse for them. Unless the entire family is obese and has gluttonous eating habits, most kids lose their “baby fat”, especially when they hit puberty.
Heck yes, she’s huge!
@Drakonskyr - who the kid or the fish?
I’m sorry, but at 3 that is quite overweight
No. I wouldn’t have even noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to me. A lot of kids are overweight and then grow out of it. Once you get into junior high you have to start worrying, but not until then.
lol @ dmv
no… not yet
I think so, because her father is obviously overweight and that makes matters worse, health is clearly not important enoguh to him. I would worry about the girl, even if she is very loved.
What does what she look like have to do with what she did? Some people’s obsession with weight and looks just goes too far sometimes.
I don’t even think she is fat/overweight. And even if she was, what? I still don’t understand why people are ”shocked” there are so many girls with EDs in the virtual world of Xanga.
She is 3 yd old ! ! ! No way, I thought she looked like 6 or 7 yd old. Yeah, there is a problem. The parents have the rights to choose to live unhealthy but, they should not do this to their own child.
Eh, I’d wait to respond til she was well into her teens.
It looks like baby fat right now…..but when she gets older she’ll probably be fat too, given what her father looks like;P
I can’t believe that’s a three year old! For that age…she is too big. Had you said 5 or 6, it wouldn’t have been worth a noting, but three? Yikes!
That must be a one hell of a Barbie fishing pole.
Well – - – - Dad’s pretty chubby.