Marathon training or child abuse?

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic throughout the country as showcased by American media and the health care industry, among others. It is not a uniquely American problem but stems in part from a culture of excess and mass production which, while also not uniquely American, goes a healthy distance toward characterizing the country's insatiability for......well, for 'more.'

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the opposite extreme. A father leads his daughter on a consecutive series of marathons over the course of two months. But is this about fitness or health? Probably not. It probably is also not about how much this girl likes to run, as her father claims. Likely it is more about wealth and notoriety in a communist country.

I am a firm believer that most people are not biologically designed to enjoy more good than harm from running marathons. I think the design can be and has been developed safely and healthfully through the centuries, through the lifetimes of some lucky recipients of genetic jackpots and through technological and surgical advances, but by and large I think the recent spike in popularity of marathons is born not of a natural predisposition, but of the same culture of excess that has illuminated the obesity problem. Specifically, America's obsessions with health, longevity, physical perfection, workoholism, and competition, paired with whatever drives a given individual to participate in charitable causes be it guilt or concern or both.

While I am only lukewarm about the wisdom of running marathons, one thing I will come out in staunch opposition to is what's going on in this story. As unhealthy as marathoning is for many (and perhaps most) adult humans despite their having reached maturity and the prime of their physical compositions, it certainly cannot be healthy or even humane to allow (much less encourage or force) a girl of 8 to endure the regimen prescribed (and hereunder defended) by her father, Mr. Zhang.

A Chinese girl has arrived in Beijing after running more than 3,550km (2,200 miles) from the southern province of Hainan in less than two months. [For sake of comparison, an individual who runs 4 miles a day, 7 days a week for two whole months would cover only 240 miles.]

Zhang Huimin, eight, rose each day at 0230 and ran about 1.5 marathons (64km, 40 miles), Xinhua news agency said. Her father accompanied her on a bicycle.

He said the feat was aimed at drawing attention to her Olympic potential ahead of the Beijing games next year.

He denied forcing her to run, but some experts have said it amounted to abuse.

"She loves to run. Many people don't understand us," he said.

Zhang and his wife have separated, mainly because she opposed his way of training their daughter, the newspaper reported.

"Whether people oppose it or not, we will soldier on," Mr Zhang said.