I don't often talk about "larger world" issues on here, but there's something that's bugging me, so I'm going to talk about it.

It's the news story - or, rather, the way it's being presented - about how "fat can be contagious."

The REAL story - such as it is - is that we derive our image of what is an appropriate body type, and what are appropriate dietary and exercise behaviors, from those around us - our peers, our family.

I would actually think that that is not news.

However - it's being spun as "Fat is contagious!!!!" And it's presented as one of those headlines that some refer to as "OMG WTF!!!11!!" headlines - meaning, it's very overhyped.

It's only later in the story - if you're still listening - that the true explanation comes out.

But I am concerned about how it's being presented. First, a disclaimer/reminder: I am kind of a fat person. If you've seen my pictures on the blog, you know that. I wear a size 16, sometimes an 18 if I want a looser fit (like in field-jeans where I don't want them so tight that mosquitoes can bite through the denim and hit flesh when I'm bending over). So I have sort of a vested interest in this.

My concern is that little kids will hear "fat is contagious" and then proceed to shun and ridicule the little fat kids at school - well, even more than they already do. "Don't get near me! I don't want to catch your fat!!!"

I can also see adults doing this, but in a more subtle way - avoiding friends because they're afraid that they will "pick up bad habits" from them.

(In my more dystopian moments, I imagine that sometime they will begin building re-education camps for fat folks, ostensibly "for their own good" but also so the "pretty people" don't have to look at them).

One other observation I would make: Of COURSE we pick up ideas of what is an "acceptable" body type from our environment. And it's not JUST our peers or family. Otherwise, we wouldn't have hundreds and thousands of teenaged girls MISERABLE about their bodies - even when they're pretty slim or athletic themselves - because they read fashion mags and see the size 0 models. And they don't think about the airbrushing, or the fact that most supermodels are considerably genetically different from most people (just as most sports stars or ballet dancers are genetically "lucky" - or "unlucky" as the case may be). What they see is "Why can't I look like her?"

I don't know. I eat fairly healthfully, I exercise most days for an hour, I'm pretty active. True, I don't deny myself desserts or bread or the occasional ice cream, which is what most of the "ladies magazines" say you have to do if you're an adult woman.

I refuse to live on iceberg lettuce and rice cakes just so I can fit some d-----d Madison Avenue person's twisted image of what "pretty and feminine" is.

But I'm getting pretty fed up (and yeah, pun kind of intended) with the constant drumbeat of stories about obesity. Look, if it were EASY for us to do something about it, we would. Look, we KNOW we're fat. Please don't make it easier for other people to justify hating us or shunning us.