Jack Sprat’s Wife Calls Kettle Black

Written by Carla Gardiner on Aug 11, 2010 8:26 pm

Jack Sprat's wife calls kettle black...

hey wait...that's not how the story goes. Here is the real nursery rhyme as I remember it:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat

His wife could eat no lean

And so betwixt the two of them

They licked the platter clean

But, did you know that the real story behind this nursery rhyme has a drastically different meaning?

Check this out...

Origin to words of Jack Sprat can be found in British History!
The Jack Sprat alluded to in this English poem is reputed to be King Charles I (1625-1649) and Henrietta Maria, his Queen (1609-1669). Apparently, when King Charles (Jack Sprat) declared war on Spain, parliament refused to finance him (leaving him lean!) So his wife imposed an illegal war tax (to get some fat!) after the angered King (Jack Sprat) dissolved Parliament

Wow! Digging into the real meaning of that rhyme was fun. What wasn't so fun was finding out the underlying meaning of an otherwise innocent child's poem. Kind of put's a different spin on how I feel about Jack Sprat and his wife.

What does the real meaning of the Jack Sprat nursery rhyme and this article on obesity have to do with one another?

Well, it has to do with me! Yes...me calling the kettle black!

Keep reading and you'll see that I was just like ole' King Charles and Queen Henrietta. How you ask?

Well...I was covering up the reality with a fairy tale...read on my friends I am baring it all today!

What is & what causes obesity?

I was shocked when I took a BMI test. That stands for body mass index. It measures the percentage of fat to your overall body mass.(The link provided here is the calculator, go there and measure your body mass now).
I know I'm overweight, but I was shocked and horrified to read the results of that test...I am obese!
I have been kidding myself by comparing my body to others I see when I am out and about....(I'm still reeling)....
I used to think that there were overweight people, fat people and then really obese people. After taking this test and finding the truth...I needed to get more educated.
I thought I'd share what I found with you.
The most important thing to realize is that obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories than their body burns off for energy.
The cause of the imbalance is different from one person to the next.
Mine may result from environmental factors, while yours might be psychological and Mary Jane's could be from genetics.
Let's look at what each one of these factors mean to our health. Read more here....

Here to Serve,
Carla J Gardiner