It breaks my heart too. Not only will these kids face a lot of ostracism growing up, they will also have enormous health problems, like adult diabetes before they're out of high school. I also wonder WTF their parents are thinking letting these children get so obese. But most of the time, if you see the parents with these kids, the parents are also very heavy. One wonders if the parents know any better, if they ever learned to cook real food, if they know anything about nutrition. It's hard to believe some people could remain so ignorant, especially with us being in the information age, but it is the case for some people. I don't think it's so much ignorance but rather a lack of motivation. A poor single mom could go to the local public library, use the internet, and find a healthy recipe for, say, a roast chicken with vegetables and make that for her kids instead of getting fried chicken and french fries from the corner deli, but such an action takes motivation and effort. Sadly a not insignificant subset of our population has little motivation and effort and would rather wait around for the government to take care of all their problems.
By the way, very impressive that you ended up thinner post-pregnancy! What is your secret?
My secret? I think I've just gotten to the point where I prefer stuff like brown rice, veggies, and oatmeal to anything else. It didn't happen overnight, but I finally, truly enjoy whole foods. I think that's it. That, and the fact that I must burn a zillion calories a day chasing after all the kids!