Woman Plans To Hand Out Chastising Letter To Overweight Trick-Or-Treaters

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) As obesity rates in children continue to rise, a North Dakota woman is using a Halloween trick she hopes convinces overweight kids to avoid treats.

The woman called a local Fargo, North Dakota, radio show to reveal that she plans to hand out a letter instead of candy to trick-or-treating kids who appear to be overweight.

"Your child is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season," the letter says, adding, "My hope is that you will step up as a parent and ration candy this Halloween and not allow your child to continue these unhealthy eating habits."

The woman, named Cheryl, said, in explaining her side:

"I'm contributing to their health problems and really, their kids are everybody's kids. It's a whole village," she said in the interview.

Fat shaming is a trend on Twitter, with people taking to social media to mock the overweight with the alleged goal of motivating them to lose weight. But is fat shaming effective -- or acceptable -- for children?

"I think it's a particularly bad idea, strangers have no role in unsolicited comments about a child's health or their appearance, these are conversations that belong between children, parents and their doctors," said Dr. Joel Young, M.D., staff psychiatrist of William Beaumont Hospital and medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine.

He added paying attention to nutrition and exercise is important, but no one wants advice from strangers on how to raise their children.

He said the letter is "a particularly cruel thing," adding overweight kids gets enough teasing from peers without adults getting involved. He said it only adds to the "tapestry of cruelty" some kids endure.

"She could make a choice to pass out something other than candy, she could hand out granola bars or Halloween stickers or pencils or crayons," the doctor added.

Many protest the fat shaming concept on social media, with user James Fell writing: "#Fat shaming is the last acceptable form of bigotry and yet it is still evil."