[masraum]

I'm fairly thin and always have been. I got picked on a bit when I was younger, but never as bad as you hear about or see in movies so I understand being on the crappy end of bullying.

I HATE to see fat kids whether they are 3, 13 or 19, but especially the younger ones. We've got lots of heavy people here in Houston, so I see it daily.

BBC News - Atlanta anti-obesity ads 'risk child stigma'
BBC News - Georgia obesity campaign sparks fierce online reaction

The Strong4Life campaign, run by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, has posted billboards in the Atlanta area since August featuring unflattering black and white photos of unhappy fat children.

The posters are accompanied by a warning banner and messages such as: "Chubby isn't cute if it leads to type two diabetes"; and "Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid".

A Georgia hospital designed a campaign to tell hard truths about childhood obesity. Is it tough love or too harsh?

For Dr Mark Wulkan, surgeon-in-chief for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, overweight children are a problem.

"Georgia is second in the nation on childhood obesity, and that's a top 10 list we want to get out of as fast as we can," he says.

As the largest paediatric healthcare provider in the state, he says: "We saw the problem as something that we should take some responsibility for, and something that we had to fix.

"We're seeing very young children in our clinic that had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease. The long-term health impact for our state, looking at the numbers, is tremendous."

The time for "warm and fuzzies", he says, was over. So instead, his hospital created an aggressive campaign, based in part off a previously successful anti-methamphetamine campaign.

This time the target wasn't drugs, but obesity.

So, there are a bunch of folks that are saying that these ads will lead to increased stigma and bullying and psychological health issues. (which seems like a reasonable assumption)

I'm just not sure how I feel about it. Like I said, I hate to see fat kids (feel bad for them and angry at the parents). So, what do you guys think? I'm OK with folks thinking this campaign is a bad idea, but if they are going to complain, I'd like to hear their option.