Fat Americans and Our Fat, Fat Babies

We Americans are fat. [Audience says: How fat are we?] We Americans are so fat that now even our babies are obese .

Almost one-third of 9-month-olds are obese or overweight, as are 34 percent of 2-year-olds, according to the research, which looked at a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001. The study is one of the first to measure weight in the same group of very young children over time, said lead researcher Brian Moss, a sociologist at Wayne State University in Detroit. The results showed that starting out heavy puts kids on a trajectory to stay that way.

“If you were overweight at nine months old, it really kind of sets the stage for you to remain overweight at two years,” Moss told LiveScience.
The researchers classified the babies’ weights based on CDC growth charts, which compare a baby’s growth to a standardized growth curve. Kids in the 95th percentile of weight were categorized as “obese,” while kids in the 85th to 95th percentile were counted as “at-risk,” similar to the adult category of “overweight,” Moss said.

Even in the first year of life, many babies fall into these two categories, Moss and his colleagues report in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion. In the 9-month age group, 15.2 percent of babies were at-risk and 16.7 percent were obese. Among 2-year-olds, just under 14 percent were at-risk and almost 21 percent were obese.

Okay, I realize that childhood obesity is a problem in our country. But, c’mon, is it really so bad for a 9-month old to be a bit chunky? Personally, I love fat babies—the fatter the better. There is nothing more adorable than a plump baby. You know what freaks me out? A skinny baby. I don’t trust parents who have skinny babies. Let them babies eat, America, give them all the Gerber’s they want.