*sputter*

apparently al roker has produced a "documentary" on the childhood obesity "emergency" for the food network.

let's investigate that sentence a bit, shall we? i'll hit all the important phrases. al roker is a TV weather guy, former fattie and gastric-bypass victim. "Childhood Obesity: Danger Zone" (danger zone!!!) is a "documentary" focusing, according to the AP blurb, not on the (social) science of food, weight and culture but on "profiles [of] young people who have successfully turned things around." roker (clearly an expert on the childhood obesity "emergency" since he lost 100 pounds through surgery as a middle aged rich dude) admits that "many factors contribute," some of them sort-of-social. but do you know what happens when you profile individual people (indeed, individual children) who have "successfully turned things around"? here's a guess: you turn it into an individual issue, such that feelings of self-hatred, blame and responsibility (which make for good tv, i might add) are allowed to drive individual success stories. individual childhood success stories. i can't think of a better way to warp a child, and -- let's just make this clear -- i know from children warped by strange ideas about obesity.

with that in mind, the horrifying money quote: "[Roker's] 8-year-old daughter stays busy with sports, but since she inherited dad's body type, weight control is an issue."

thanks, dad! JESUS CHRIST!