Open Thread Ranting: Obesity Journalism Clichés I Could Do Without

Oy.  I've had a heck of a month so far, with medical crises in 3 of 4 children that included an MRI, MRA, and neurological testing in one child, several weeks of missed school and minor surgery in another child, and an ultrasound, hospital visit, and possible major surgery (not needed in the end) in another child.  Not to mention all the GAZILLION doctor appointments that went with all of this.  Oh, and a bunch of meetings at school to develop a plan get various medical needs met.

So I'm definitely feeling stressed out, and that's why there haven't been any major posts in a while.

The good news is that in the end, these were only minor blips on the scale of Things That Could Go Wrong, so I'm counting my blessings even as I acknowledge the stress and its toll.  At least most of this stuff ended up being relatively minor, thank goodness.

And since things tend to come in threes, I'm reassuring myself that this means I'm done.  Child #4 is under strict instructions that he does NOT need to complete the set and make us four for four.  We've had our three bad things, now we're done and can move on, thank you very much. (I'll just plug my ears, sing la-la-la loudly, and ignore the fact that ski season is looming.)

The bad news is that I'm behind in my blogging.  I have a number of major posts in the works but they are research-heavy and so need some real dedicated TIME to finish, time which has been spent in doctors' offices, at the hospital, and in meetings recently.  So please, keep checking back.  There's lots more to come, once people stop being sick long enough for me to finish it.

In the meantime, in the interest of at least posting something, here's a mini-rant about "obesity journalism" clichés that's been brewing in my mind for a long time.  Feel free to rant along.

MY RANT: Whenever I read journalistm stories about the "obesity epidemic," I am appalled at all the tacky clichés used.  Journalists are supposed to avoid clichés ─ but somehow editors look the other way when it comes to "obesity" stories.  (Apparently, rules of good writing are not needed when discussing obesity?)

For example, I would love to banish the phrase, "packing on the pounds."  Yeah, sure, it's alliterative, but it's insulting and inflammatory.  Same with the phrase, "ballooned up to.....xxx pounds."  Both are overused and not very imaginative ─ just lazy journalism. 

I'm sure if I sat down and thought about it for a while, I could come up with a lot more clichés....but I'll let you do that for me.

Which "obesity journalism" clichés drive you nuts?  Do you have other pet peeves about the writing style and content of these types of "obesity epidemic" stories?

Open Thread Ranting starts now.