Fat Chance

Dear Children:

One of the fun things about being a kid is the inverse proportion of fairness we feel as toddlers than we do as tweens. The younger the child the better developed her sense of fairness. The older she becomes, the less likely she is to expect fairness. You’ll soon notice that older adults have no expectation of fairness.

As we mature (rightly or wrongly) we depend more on an assessment of the factual, quantifiable and demonstrable. Consider how disputes are resolved. We go see the judge. The judge has an obligation to follow laws that have some element of fairness. Still, the law may not be fair to one of the parties in favor of a greater and more socially acceptable fairness to the other party. Even if the judge follows the law diligently, the law may not be precisely on point to the particular case. In that event, the judge must use judgment. The whole idea is to produce an outcome. That outcome, called a verdict, is expected to settle the instant dispute and all others like it. It’s much more complicated than I’ve outlined but you get the idea.

Laws are for the purpose of controlling behavior and trials are supposed to refine law by producing a clear winner and a clear loser. In the end, someone is to blame. We like that. Even if we don’t like the outcome, knowing whom to blame is somehow comforting.

The rest of life is not so simple. There are some aspects of life that lend themselves neither to fairness nor to adjudication. Disease is one example. Some people are clearly more talented or better looking than most. Some people will not obey the rules. There are many examples.

Nowhere is there such unfairness as in our genetic makeup. Most of what we are physically, mentally and spiritually come from our parents. Our outlook, our resemblances and our capabilities come directly from the families into which we were born. In no case can we say we deserved to be born a particular way. This is stunningly true when it comes to the question of obesity.

A recent British study has concluded that genetic, birth order and family values factors determine 77% of our predisposition to obesity. Clearly, if I’m fat I can lay the blame squarely at the feet of my parents and family of origin. Lots of the journalists who reported the story agreed. Seventy-seven percent is quite overwhelming and, in a close call, lots of judges would say that it swamps other factors completely.

Don’t be taken in. You see, we have not yet accounted for the remaining 13%. Consider: What if I could guarantee 13% fewer Dodge Ball hits? Do you know that the difference in the first place finisher and the last place finisher in individual sporting events is far less than 13%? A 13% advantage can be overwhelming too. A six-stroke advantage at the end of a 72 hole golf tournament can be less than that.

Play fair. Fight fair. Be fair. While you’re at it, take great care in assigning blame. I’ve learned that obesity is 77% hereditary but we need to think of it like allergies and double-jointedness: as an unevenly distributed biological predisposition. It’s just more of a struggle for some than it is for others.

I’ve been listening to The Commitments recently on the iPod. It’s Soul music sung by a group ostensibly from Barrytown a slum in north Dublin, Ireland in the 1980’s. There are just one or two albums because the group was formed for the purpose of making a movie. That and The Blues Brothers movie soundtrack present an interesting introduction to Soul.

Much Love,

Poppy