As someone who is overweight, I know this as well as anyone. I begin each new year with resolve to drop 50 pounds, eat better and get more exercise.

The outdoor gear industry represented by the semi-annual Outdoor Retailer Show that opens this week at the Salt Palace does a good job paying lip service to getting more children and overweight adults outdoors. But the unfortunate reality is that many companies fail to provide us with the tools we need to become more active.

The message manufacturers too often send through advertisements and gear is that only the young, fit and healthy are worthy.

At one level, this makes perfect sense. The fit purchase more outdoor clothing. Those of us who are fat imagine ourselves running ultra-marathons, climbing mountains, kayaking in whitewater and riding mountain bikes up slickrock. We want to picture ourselves as one of those lithe athletes in Men's Fitness or Outside rather than Joe Sixpack with a gut hanging over our bicycle tights as we try to pedal down the street.

At another level, though, looking at gear at the aisles of Outdoor Retailer or at my favorite outdoor clothing specialty stores becomes more than a little frustrating. It discourages me from shopping and getting outdoors. It is more than humiliating to ask a sales clerk to check if the store has a double-extra-large pair of pants in the back.

What's more, many outdoor clothing companies don't manufacture clothing that fits large men and women. Out of curiosity last summer, I came back from Outdoor Retailer with a list of cool clothing I wanted to purchase and logged on to companies' Web sites, only to find they did not make anything bigger than extra large.

So much for fighting adult obesity.

Things are not much better for children.

At last year's Outdoor Retailer, I chatted with one of the few children's outdoor clothing makers selling wares. He said the number of manufacturers showing kids' gear at the show seemed to be declining.

Unfortunately, he was correct. It almost seemed to me there was more stuff being made for dogs than for kids. It is more than a little ironic that I have sat through more than one presentation on how the outdoor industry needs to get more kids active for its future health, but that same industry fails to produce much in the way of children's clothing, footwear or packs.

Of course, some companies do a good job.

My personal favorites are Columbia, Patagonia and North Face, which make outdoor pants and shirts in larger sizes carried by stores I frequent. A few high-end manufacturers make children's clothing as well, though I seem to have an easier time finding boots and snow gear for my 7-year-old granddaughter at discount stores.

I know that I probably will never participate in a triathlon, but I still enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits and want to get out with my grandkids. I don't think I am alone. I suspect there is, if you will excuse the pun, a large market out there for overweight folks trying to become fitter.

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Contact Tom Wharton at wharton@sltrib.com or 801-257-8909. Send comments about this column to livingeditor@sltrib.com.