If anything should be a sacred, safe place for a child, it's with Santa Claus. But one child cried all night because Santa shamed him for being overweight.

Let's look at Santa Claus for a moment. Santa has a "round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly." Our modern Santa Claus is round. He's clearly obese. That's a key part of his personae. He's hefty, smiling, and beloved by all.

So here we have a nine-year-old boy in North Carolina who clearly isn't in charge of the shopping or the meal preparation. He is eating what his family is putting on the table for him. It's not like a nine-year-old is living on his own and choosing his own menu. He is at the whim of his parents and caretakers.

He is brought to see Santa Claus and is thrilled to be able to meet him. This is a magical part of childhood. Perhaps the one time when he isn't being teased and put down by the other kids in school.

And what does Santa say?

"Lay off the hamburgers and french fries."

Oh, right. Because that's what being obese is about. It's about a child actively choosing to eat hamburgers and french fries all day long non-stop. I'm sure this family is putting out meals of salads and grilled chicken and instead he's sneaking out with his hard-earned money to buy himself piles of hamburgers and french fries.

And when you look at the pictures of the child - he's wearing a sports jersey! He apparently belongs to the local baseball team. So it's not like he isn't trying! It's not easy being a child in a family where proper nutrition isn't the top priority. What is he supposed to do, tell them all to serve him different meals? Insist that he wants to be fed something different than everybody else?

Keep in mind that this boy is NINE YEARS OLD. This is hardly an age where many kids are educated enough in nutrition to be able to formulate those demands, never mind make them.

So, for a wealth of reasons, we should never fat shame kids.

Original news story (one of hundreds):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/07/fat-shaming-santa-left-nine-year-old-boy-tears/