Zero Sum Games February 16
So there is this interesting article in the NYT describing a study that shows girls in highschool who think they have lower social status gain more weight than girls with higher social status. Now I think this is a very interesting direction to pursue but the suggestions the study authors offered in response to it were totally absurd.
Parents concerned about a girl’s weight should look not only at eating habits but also at their child’s social network, encouraging relationships with friends and enrolling kids in group activities, the researchers said.
Have these researchers never been to highschool? Do they really think that having your mother fret over your social relationships is going to help?
And as part of other anti-obesity measures, school officials should consider implementing programs to help girls build social skills, they added.
“I think schools have a lot of influence,’’ said lead author Adina R. Lemeshow, now a project analyst at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “It’s about fostering secure and supportive social environments in which girls feel more accepted.’’
Did they read their own damn article? They reported that social status affects obesity not ‘social skills.’ Not everyone can be on top of the social hierarchy. No amount of intervention by the school can change the fact that 10% of the HS will be the least popular 10% of the highschool.
Sorry, but isn’t it you who isn’t reading straight?! As much as I can read, they write: “but also at their child’s social network“!! They refer to “social network” not “social status”!!! Social network is more about the number of friends a person has which to some extent is influenced by social skills.
You’re right to an extent, but you’ve overlooked a few things:
1) By increasing TURNOVER in the bottom 10%, both the weight gain and the psychological stress causing it would be spread among more girls and thus cause less harm to any one individual, and not implausibly less aggregate harm;
2) If the actual cause is perception of status like your executive summary of the article suggests, a program that ‘lifts all boats’ may cause an overoptimistic appraisal that more or less halts the bad effects of RELATIVELY low status entirely (compare the number of people in the US who think they’re in the top 20% of incomes with the number who actually are);
3) If a program to teach social skills actually works (admittedly a big if) then it is likely to be in itself a much bigger objective good to the students in question than any weight loss it may or may not produce.