Let's retire the term "Fatso"

…Gosh, what would any self-respecting schoolyard do without these hateful names for overweight kids?

…Univ of Florida researchers found this is more than “names” versus “sticks and stones.”

…For one thing, the teachers would probably take the sticks and stones away from the kids.

…The names and bullying are worse. The fear of being insulted or picked on is keeping kids from getting exercise.

…In the Journal of Pediatric Psychiatry, Eric Storch, PhD, an assistant prof of psychiatry and pediatrics, says that one in every five kids is picked on.

…Maybe larger kids are easier to catch for these little brats.

…Or maybe society still makes it OK to ridicule overweight people.

…The docs found signs of depression in these kids.

…Guess you don’t get much exercise huddling in the corner and trying to be invisible—or not getting picked for teams.

…In a related story, in the New York Times (May 29, 2006), the idea that weighing kids, putting their BMIs on their report card, not allowing kids to buy seconds, etc., may have gone too far.

…Yeah, just a little.