Michelle Obama Slammed for Telling Us to 'Drink More Water'

zaterdag 14 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Maressa Brown 8 hours ago

You can almost guarantee that if President Obama or First Lady Michelle Obama endorse something, anything, whether it's a new sweeping reform that will affect every last American household OR a certain dog breed (say, Portuguese water dogs, like Bo and Sunny!), there's going to be SOMEONE out there who has a problem with it. Just because it came from the POTUS and FLOTUS. For the most recent example, look no further than a new program by Michelle's Partnership for a Healthier America to encourage people to drink more water for its health/energy benefits. ZOMG, how controversial!

Yes, somehow that has been the reaction to Mrs. Obama's water campaign from experts, who claim the White House is "overselling the benefits of water." Give me a break.

The biggest problem I see with Michelle's push to drink up isn't that it's a waste of time or bizarre. It's a perfectly legitimate aim. We all know -- or should! -- to drink more water, especially in lieu of sugary, empty-calorie-laden drinks. The problem is that it's not controversial ENOUGH! Here, 7 much more controversial health issues that I could actually see being squawked about ... but also deserve to be discussed in a bigger way:

Medical marijuana. Despite some progress in this department in recent years and research that keeps coming out, and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta saying he "changed his mind on weed," there are still states that are doing their darndest to keep medical marijuana from patients could benefit from it much more than toxic pharmaceuticals. Speaking of which ...How we (over-)medicate. We and New Zealand are the only two western countries that allow direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceutical drugs. Why? Is it really okay that people walk into their doctors' offices requesting this anxiety med or that narcotic?Environmental toxins. Various experts love to belittle or blow off the idea that parabens, phthalates, BPA, etc. are screwing with our hormones and causing disease and illness. It would be awesome if the FLOTUS would push the FDA to come clean and be real with us about all of it.GMOs. Another one that seems to be a big controversy but could use a push for stronger science.Cancer. Are research dollars really going where we believe and would hope they are?Light drinking while pregnant. Controversial? Oh, hell yes! But is this really something women need to be worried about? Maybe we ought to do more research and have real, evidence-based debate about it instead of continuing to treat it as a total no questions asked no-no.The war on women. A woman's right to choose and have access to cancer screenings and birth control should NOT be up for debate. The year is 2013, not 1320.

I don't know about you, but these are all health problems/setbacks/challenges our country is facing that seem to have much higher stakes than the First Lady recommending that we "drink more water." 

What do you think about the FLOTUS' new campaign? What are some other health issues you think are actually deserve to be labeled "controversial"?

Image via whitehouse.gov

Click "Like" for more on issues that are important to moms. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maressa Brown

has enjoyed reporting and writing for a variety of entertainment and women's magazines and websites. More often than not, you'll find her blogging, hitting the gym, reading, researching something on her iPhone, laughing, chatting at an above-"normal" volume, or getting her caffeine fix.

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Why I'm Telling My Daughter About My Eating Disorder

zondag 25 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota

We adults spend a lot of time editing our life stories for our kids, making them child-friendly. Honesty is one thing, but kids don't need to know everything. And when it comes to little girls, they certainly don't need to hear their moms talking about weight issues.

Just about every study out there will tell you that's a surefire way to raise a daughter with an eating disorder. But how much editing should we really do? One expert says our daughters should hear absolutely nothing about weight matters, nothing about diets, nothing at all.

And yet, I'm going to tell my daughter about my eating disorder.

Not today. Not tomorrow. Probably not for awhile, in fact, but it will happen sooner rather than later.

Because I disagree with Dr. Leslie Sim, clinical director of Mayo Clinic's eating disorders program and a child psychologist, when she says that the answer to raising a healthy daughter is:

Zero talk about dieting, zero talk about weight.

Never acknowledging the elephant in the room can be just as dangerous as moaning about your weight.

Take it from me, a recovering bulimic whose parents never mentioned the long hours I'd spend in the bathroom, the retching noises. Maybe they never noticed; I don't know. 

But they also never talked about eating disorders with me, never warned me against them. I won't make that mistake with my daughter.

More From The Stir: 7 Truths About Eating Disorders Every Parent Needs to Know

She needs to know that she is beautiful and that her body is perfect. She needs to know about eating healthy foods and exercising. But she also needs to know the truth about eating disorders.

Because she will hear about them. I did. I had friends with whom I bonded in no small part because we shared a secret -- we threw up our meals. We would exchange tips about throwing up. And although I was smart enough to know I probably shouldn't be doing it, there was no one telling me why, no one with any authority presenting a convincing argument against bulimia.

This is my duty to my daughter: to prevent her from making the mistakes I made as a kid, to be the voice of reason on all matters rather than letting her take another kid's advice (because we all remember getting some particularly bad advice on the school bus, don't we?).

We talk about other issues with our kids, other things they shouldn't do. We warn them against the dangers of drugs and alcohol, warn them not to smoke cigarettes or ride in a car without a seatbelt. And we start it all pretty young. Thanks to an uncle who smokes, my daughter was getting the "no cancer sticks" talk when she was a mere toddler.

So why not talk to her about eating disorders? Because they relate to weight, and weight is a no-no?

Unfortunately, weight exists, and kids talk about it.

And at times in a girl's life, your weight changes. You want to know why, you want reassurance. You want to know what to do about it -- if you have to do anything. 

Right now my daughter is 8, all slim hips and non-existent thighs. But she's getting so close to puberty, that I went out and bought her one of those books on a girl's changing body to prepare her for what will happen -- for acne and body odor, for her period.

I don't want her to be alarmed or scared. I don't want her making poor choices -- such as skipping the deodorant or pretending that blood isn't real, mistakes that are easy to make when you're a kid who doesn't understand why these things are happening and just wants to go back to the way things were. Nor do I want her to feel bad about the weight that often packs on as you gain hips and breasts, to do something drastic to try to reverse it.

This is why I'll talk to my daughter about my eating disorder. So she knows that it's the wrong choice but also so that she knows she's not alone as her body changes.

How do you talk to your daughters about weight? Do you have a 0 weight talk policy or do you talk about some things?

Image by Jeanne Sager

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Letter Telling Family to Euthanize Autistic Child Ruled Out as a Hate Crime

dinsdag 20 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota

In a letter that proves that there is pink paper in the depths of hell, a family of a teenager with autism was recently told to euthanize the 13-year-old or move out of their neighborhood. The typed letter that came from an anonymous neighbor of Maxwell Begley's family has gone viral, angering just about anyone who reads it. That includes the cops, who are trying to figure out what to do about the "pissed off mother" who sent the note.

For starters, if and when they find her, they won't be charging her with a hate crime.

It's too bad.

The letter is certainly full of hateful comments about the 13-year-old, from urging the Begleys to donate whatever “non-retarded body parts he possesses" to science to referring to noises the child makes when outside as "noise polluting whaling (sic)." But Durham Regional Police in the Begleys' hometown of Newcastle, Ontario, have reviewed the letter and determined the language doesn't qualify as a hate crime under Canadian statutes.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that the cops have taken the letter in as evidence, and they are trying to do something about it.

Criminal charges could come of this. Thank goodness.

Because a letter like that can't just make us mad. While that's all well and good in terms of increasing awareness of the discrimination and cruelty kids on the autism spectrum (and their families) encounter, Internet outrage isn't worth a whole lot. Throw in $1.50 and you might get a decent cup of coffee.

A letter like this crosses so many lines that it has to get the writer in real trouble, right? Otherwise, what's to keep them from doing it again?

Criminalizing behavior like this is the only sure way to prevent it from being repeated.

Frankly, it's hard to figure out the exact line between freedom of speech and harassing speech, and I'll admit I'm no expert on Canadian laws.

It's OK to hate on your neighbors from the privacy of your own home -- according to one survey, as many as 60 percent of people have admitted they don't get along with the folks next door. But you certainly don't take it beyond personal griping, and especially not in the form of a hate-filled screed about an innocent child.

It would seem to be criminal to have actually sent this letter to the family. This wasn't a letter someone wrote on their own computer, printed, then balled up and threw away. It wasn't even a rather inappropriate blog post.

This was a letter specifically sent to the Begley family. It was meant to hit them at home, on their own turf, where they should be able to feel safe, where Maxwell should be able to feel loved.

At the very least, the letter writer should be forced to do a little community service ... perhaps at a place that serves kids with special needs?

Check out the letter -- do you think it's criminal?

Images via Frederic Bisson/Flickr; Begley family

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