State Fair Sized Infants

15 Pound Baby

Can someone tell me when the media turned childbirth into a 4-H Club contest? I turned on the news this morning to watch a newsanchor slobber all over this story. Words like "wow" and "amazing" kept getting tossed out like this behemoth infant were a prize winning heifer at the State Fair.

Are your kidding? Is the size of this kid really that much of a shock? Look at the boy's mother for crying out loud. That woman is heavy. And that's not babyweight, that's long-term lifestyle heavy. Her husband is no featherweight either, but next to her, even HE looks diminutive.

Any why is this story getting "wow"s and "awesome"s from the media table anyway? This is a kid, not a cabbage. You do not get high scores for birthing heavyweights, you get childhood health problems like diabetes, early arthritis, and obesity (there's a shocker). Just look at the pictures of this poor boy. He just looks wrong. But positive media attention is the reward. That's just great. Need we guess what kind of message that sends to people who crave attention? Get fat! Have fat kids! Have LOT'S of kids too! Odds are good you will be featured on National News at the very least. But hey...fat...health problems....AND a horde of kids? Hellloooo TLC Channel!

 (When did The Learning Channel = Obesity, Little People, and SuperBreeders? Anyway...)

And the proud parents are nicknaming him "butterball". They call his sister "pork chop" (born at more than 11 pounds).  My how sweet. One would hope such "nicknames" would vanish once a child was old enough to understand it's given name...but from what I've seen in my extended family...nicknames are for LIFE.

I can just hear it now...that girl will be getting ready to walk out the door with her date for Prom, and Mom walks up with the camera saying "Smile Pork Chop!"

But yeah. I Googled "heavy babies" and got lot's of results pointing towards the health concerns for these kids. Once this one's 15 minutes of fame are over, he's just destined to be another trundling toddler without the energy to play.

Sad.