Dear High School,

My body is none of your business. I don’t need you to tell me I am fat. I don’t need you to tell my parents I am fat. I don’t need you to make other students freak out about weight anymore than they already do.

Please see this.

and this.

THE CLAIM: The International Obesity Task Force estimates that 300 million people worldwide are obese and 750 million more are overweight, including 22 million children under age 5.

America is frequently cited as the fattest country in the world with an obesity rate of 30% and another 35% of us classified as “overweight.”

According to the formula the U.S. government employs to measure weight, any person with a BMI over 25 is classified as overweight. BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. BMI can be calculated with simple math.

The B.M.I. doesn’t tell you the percentage of body fat you’re carrying, or how your fat is distributed. According to this measurement, half of the National Basketball Association is overweight or obese.

Overweight = BMI 25 – 29.9
An estimated 35 percent of U.S. adults, over 66 million people, are overweight, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 – 29.9.

Obesity = BMI greater than 30
An estimated 30 percent of U.S. adults, over 60 million people, are obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

THE TRUTH: Today’s average American adult is 7 to 14 pounds heavier than one thirty years ago.

Some doctors and pseudo-scientific health organizations, like the International Obesity Task Force, have worked tirelessly (with substantial financial backing from diet and pharmaceutical companies) to lower the bar in determining those of us who are overweight and obese.

Until a report by the National Institute of Health (largely paid for by weight loss industry money paid to the International Obesity Task Force and the American Obesity Association) “overweight” was defined as having a BMI greater than 27 and “obese” meant your BMI was greater than 32.

After the 1998 NIH report, suddenly tens of millions of Americans became “obese” even though they had not gained a pound. Shifting the BMI down two points helped turned obesity into moral panic.

Despite weak evidence of an obesity crisis, the media continues to shill for the weight loss industry. Last month (January 2006) Google Alerts produced over 300 headline stories on obesity.

To put it plainly- leave me alone and let me study. That IS what I am here for, correct?

(see, I managed to reply without having TEENAGE ANGST!!!)

(but, because I am defiant, I did rip up the paper we were supposed to take home and put it in the recycling bin. TAKE THAT!! HAHAHAH!! My homeroom teacher got mad at me XD)..

Honestly, it just annoyed the crap out of me. Every SINGLE period I went to I had to keep hearing about it. SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP! It does annoy me. This shouldn’t be happening in the first place, it’s none of the school business what I weight or how FAT i am. (apparently I am only overweight now, and not obese! I don’t understand, but whatev).

And I hear some of my friends talking about it. Being told you are overweight isn’t exactly a feel good moment. I’m already perfectly aware and dandy with it, but there are a lot of people at school who aren’t. What’s this going to do to their self esteem? Some people won’t care, but there are others who will. Shaming people won’t make them any thinner, thanks. Making them think they are freaks and “over” what is “normal” won’t make them any happier. So please, any classmates of mine who read this, see the above links (first one is a must!) and spread the word! (or not lol). When I have more time I will find more links, but as of right now my vati needs to use the computer and I must be getting off.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It just needs to stop. Just leave me alone, I only have 7 more weeks to go.