Tuesday, November 21, 2006

"Obese" mum commits suicide

Grief stricken family sue Science Museum.



No - not really!
But these were some of the possible headlines that floated through my brain after a recent experience at the Brisbane Science Museum.


I have shied away from weighing machines for over a decade, having spent much of my teenage years and early adulthood obsessed with the figures on those unforgiving dials. Recently however I have made some pleasing progress with my battle with the bulges and I now fit comfortably into a size 14 and even occasionally a 12.


So when confronted with an interactive Body Mass Indicator exhibit at the Brisbane Science Museum on a recent trip with my son I decided I might finally be willing to break my taboo and face those scales.


The height measuring part was fairly painless (although the measure jerked rather uncomfortably down on my head) and only slightly surprising (when I realised that the last time I had measured my height it had been in feet and inches).


But the scales were another story. They must have seen me coming! Maybe they have a special sensor detecting scales aversion because when I first stepped on the readout confidently read 72 kilos and then quick as a flash it changed its mind and jumped to 80 kg. Yikes - that can't be right I screamed internally in a panic. 80 kilos - why thats only a mere kilo or two less than I weighed after my son was born - a comfortable motherly size 18. What's going on? Heavy bones? Muscles? I have been doing a lot of bike riding but really ....


I jumped off and tried to start over but the machine was having none of it. It appeared that once you'd started you had to finish or remain forever ignorant of your BMI score.


I probably should have chosen the latter option but I remembered those pleasingly loose size 14 jeans and I plucked up my courage and pressed the button for the final section of the exhibit. The red LED display teased me for a moment as it computed my fate. It whirred and pondered and then spat out my BMI readout - 30.1! I turned nervously to the scale printed on the wall and ran my finger up the scale: past average .... they tell me 14-16 is the average for Australian women ... but no ... up into overweight .. oh well I guess I could still loose a bit without fading away ... but no ... horror of horrors .. I passed overweight at 30 and ... discovered my distressing diagnosis...


... OBESE!


I decided on something sweet to cope with the trauma.
Well - I'm an obese size 14 - what difference was it going to make?

1 comment:

Thomas said...

Have you heard of a biker with a BMI of 35? I happen to be one. At my heaviest, I weighed 118 kg, and was very much into biking, have been so since 1989, as my username indicates.