Sometimes an issue jumps out at me like a teenager in a Miley Cyrus twerking costume. The letter above was written by a fed-up “villager” from Fargo who is so concerned about the childhood obesity epidemic that she claims she will be handing this letter to obese trick-or-treaters instead of candy. The letter went viral, and the writer has apparently become a target. Her goal in releasing the letter several days before Halloween was obviously to shock the community into reacting, and she picked an excellent holiday for the occasion. While Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter are also paeans to gluttony, Halloween is the only holiday during which children can be legally sent from door to door to beg for food ala Oliver Twist.

While poorly written and in questionable taste, the letter underscores a growing frustration with parents who refuse to provide a healthy diet and opportunities for exercise for their children. I reluctantly drop mini chocolate bars into the outstretched pillow sheets of ever-larger children whose increasing girth is far more frightening than their Walking Dead costumes. A smiling princess with a triple chin proudly sporting wobbling belly rolls under tight taffeta does not make me warm and fuzzy about upholding what has become a  another sordid American holiday tradition of overconsumption. Instead, I silently pity the poor kids who, excluding medical conditions which cause weight gain, have become the unwitting victims of their parents’ largesse. Ahem.

 It’s high time that the parents of obese children assume some of the blame. They far too often abdicate responsibility for their unhealthy progeny by relying on school lunch programs, allowing kids to spend far too much time watching TV and playing video games, and not providing opportunities for exercise. Parents of obese children would rather not argue with pleading children threatening temper tantrums at Walmart. Personal responsibility is a daunting task. It is much easier to hand off the burden to the government, schools, electronic babysitters, and eventually to the medical community.  Giving in and creating unhealthy eating habits that will take a lifetime to undo is not only irresponsible,  but often deadly. Stopping at a drive-thru is far easier than firing up the stove at home, and will meet with a more enthusiastic response from fat and sugar-addicted children. After all, working out is so hard. If all of my students and clients blogged their daily excuses simultaneously on WordPress, it would crash and burn in an Obamacare-style conflagration. The vast majority prefer to make excuses rather than put in some sweat.

As a side note and to strengthen my argument supporting the well-intentioned letter writer, I am extremely fit, work out six days a week, and work as a personal trainer as a side job.  It pains me to give out candy and chocolate for Halloween, since I do not consume either food product. I would rather give out treats, though, than suffer the tricky consequences to my home and property.  I will smile at the jiggling princess and her young Minion sidekick looking all the world like Jonah Hill in drag and fill up those yawning pillowcases. At least I know that Obamacare will collapse under its own weight as Generation XXXL comes of age.