My Television Debut

Today wasn’t the first time I’ve been on TV, but it was the first time I’ve been on NATIONAL TV. CBS This Morning did a segment on the Blame and Shame ad campaign Georgia is running regarding childhood obesity. First, let me say I really applaud the children in the ads for being brave enough to put themselves out there and subject themselves to the many discussions taking place about the ad campaign. The young lady interviewed today stated she is beautiful and she needed to get herself healthy. Again, I applaud her for her attitude and her mother for providing an atmosphere at home where her daughter realizes her beauty is not directly tied to her weight. However, (you knew there was a big however coming, right?) very few pre-pubescent and adolescent kids who are affected by obesity are self confident enough and secure enough to talk about their weight on national TV.

As I explained yesterday, I was the “fat” kid, teenager and adult. I thank God every day for my gastric bypass which helped me get my weight under control and continues to help me keep it under control. At 46 years old and nearly 11 years post surgery, I continue to struggle with my body image. I continue to feel “fat.” As I was sitting in the studio waiting to give this interview, ear bud in place, microphone on, first I was thinking about was what am I going to say? How am I going to get my point across? How am I going to make them understand this blame and shame is wrong, wrong, wrong? I was also thinking, sit up, sit up straight, TV adds 10 pounds, will they wonder why this “fat” person is speaking about childhood obesity? Then, I overheard the conversation through the ear bud…the two letters that strike fear in the heart of every woman…HD. We’re filming in HD, got to have the HD feed going. Holy moley, all thoughts about what I was going to say floated out the window. All I could think of was, HD, HD, I knew I should have put on more concealer! Will my brown spot show? What about my turkey gobbler? Oh no, my turkey gobbler will be in HD for all the world to see!

Well the segment has aired, Chloe is beautiful. She is confident, intelligent and making the right choices. If the campaign was focused on the same topics that she was interviewed on, it could really have a positive effect. Instead, the campaign is derogatory, stigmatizing and simply disappointing.

CBS This Morning Segment: Child in Controversial Ad Campaign Speaks Out You can view the segment here. I feel I did get a tiny bit of my point across. Yes, you could see my turkey gobbler in HD, but my hair looked pretty darn good!

BariBelle