Should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

[hart]

Well unless I see a study showing that all obese children were fed formula and no breast fed kids are obese, I somehow don't think this is the cause of obesity in children.

Do I think severely obese children should be taken away from parents? No. Do I think the kids need to be monitored if there health is in danger? Yes.

By the way I was given soy milk as a child as I was allergic to both breast and cow's milk and at one point I was anorexic in my life...........funny how that went

 

[Niamh]

You said that you think it's abuse if a parent who is being educated on the proper way to feed their child doesn't abide by the advice and feeds their child whatever they want, leading to obesity.

So, is it not child abuse if a parent is told they live in a state with a lot of tornadoes and they refuse to leave? Tornadoes can be dangerous.

Let's take video games. Lots of "studies" have shown that video games contribute to aggressive behavior etc. Is it child abuse if a parent allows their child to play video games?

You should always eat a good breakfast right? In fact, many studies claim that children who eat breakfast do better in school. Is it child abuse if a parent doesn't force their kid to eat breakfast?


Back to the obesity issue, who would "educate" these parents on good eating habits? The benevolent government that knows what's best for everyone?

I think that is an absolutely ridiculous comparison tbh

 

[Tim]

By the way I was given soy milk as a child as I was allergic to both breast and cow's milk and at one point I was anorexic in my life...........funny how that went

Actually babies cannot be allergic to breast milk. The baby might be sensitive to something the mother is eating but a change in diet for the mother can correct this sensitivity. Usually it comes down to a certain protein the mother is getting, most commonly protein from dairy products.

But back to the subject at hand...

Before we start taking children from parents, maybe we should fix the systemic problems that lead to some of these problems.
One that can be addressed right away is the "food deserts" that lead to many health problems and obesity. Get affordable healthy food choices into these areas and it will help millions of people.
And before I would support taking a child out of a home, I would see if having a counselor come to the home several days a week could help. Education and training is always the cheaper choice.

 

[Dana]

I agree with DF... No, taking a fat happy child out of a home into foster care is pointless. Teach the parent and the child how to eat properly.

 

[Dana]

i AM NOT getting into a BF/FF debate, especially with a BF Nazi! :willy_nilly: im all for BF, but damn im in touch with reality enough to know that its not always feasible!

Obesity isnt always because of unhealthy eating habits. there are heath reasons why a person is overweight, no matter what the eating habits are. there are skinny people that have WORSE eating habits than over weight people. what should we do about them!? do they get a pass because they have a different metabolism and/or different genetics!?

There are enough kids in foster care because of worse situations. lets not add to the growing problem. Instead, educate and HELP parents make the right decisions

WOW.... I'm speechless. Awesome post

 

[hart]

All I know Tim is that I failed to thrive on my mother's milk, I thought I was allergic, but perhaps I was mistaken Thanx for the info. Anyway I do know that I obviously didn't become a terribly obese child from the formula

 

[Tim]

All I know Tim is that I failed to thrive on my mother's milk, I thought I was allergic, but perhaps I was mistaken Thanx for the info. Anyway I do know that I obviously didn't become a terribly obese child from the formula

Many parents believe that babies can be allergic to mothers milk, hell, there are doctors out there that help keep this belief going by not fully educating new mothers. I guess it's easier to say the baby is allergic to the milk than to try to figure out what the cause is in the mothers diet. It's not easy to do.

and for the record, my post wasn't meant to be judgmental at all. It was merely to inform...

 

[hart]

Many parents believe that babies can be allergic to mothers milk, hell, there are doctors out there that help keep this belief going by not fully educating new mothers. I guess it's easier to say the baby is allergic to the milk than to try to figure out what the cause is in the mothers diet. It's not easy to do.

and for the record, my post wasn't meant to be judgmental at all. It was merely to inform...

Well I didn't take ur post to be judgemental, I took another's posts in this series to be judgemental, but then I can be judgemental with the best of them

 

[Peter Parka]

Taking a child from their parents because they're obese is absurd. That would be traumatic for both the family and child, not to mention cruel.

There are other ways to solve the obesity problem.

:homo:In most situations, taking the child away is just going to cause more problems. Surely in most cases a social worker and/ or doctor teaching the parents how to feed their child properly and checking up on them should be enough.

 

[Joe the meek]

And before I would support taking a child out of a home, I would see if having a counselor come to the home several days a week could help. Education and training is always the cheaper choice.

If the only issue in the home is an obese child, department of social services is not going to get involved.

Who is going to pay for a counselor to make a house call 1 day a week let alone 7 days?

 

[hart]

If the only issue in the home is an obese child, department of social services is not going to get involved.

Who is going to pay for a counselor to make a house call 1 day a week let alone 7 days?

Joe you are right. But, the sad truth is, if nothing is done, what is it going to cost if this becomes such an obese individual they cannot care for themselves? They will get on disability and will be getting government assistance worth much more than a counselor's visit, and then they will start suffering horrible health problems that the tax payers will be paying for.

It's a viscious cycle I see time and time again. I have a tenant that receives disability from the government because he is so obese he cannot work, has had surgery on both knees and he does little or nothing to improve his situation. He's not so obese as to be bed ridden but he also is a whinner and perpectually late with the rent, if it weren't for my husband having taken over collecting the rent I would have kicked him out long ago I can't stand looking or listening to him. NOT because he's obese but because he won't do anything about it!

 

[Dana]

Might i add thats a horrible photo if thats the lady who wrote said article. Is it a mug shot?

 

[darkcgi]

fat camp

 

[Mystic]

on my beach there is this one little girl who was very fat last summer but as of this summer she is so much bigger and it brought myself and a few friends to talk on this very issue of child abuse. My friends mum is part of children's aid who deals day in and day out with cases of child abuse.....Anyway, we all agreed that obese children are neglected and therefore abused. Obesity brought on by too much food and lack of exercise is the truest form of neglect. Its up to us as parents to make sure our children are eating properly and exercising regularly. It takes nothing for a parent to shut the TV or video game down and chase the kid outside to play. It also takes nothing for a parent NOT to buy the food that make them fat. And it takes nothing for a parent to take their child regularly to the doctors for tests should it be an allergy to certain foods like gluten or milk products.

Also we have to be onto school systems as well to remove the shit they serve our children in schools. In the UK chocolate milk is banned. Over here thats all they drink...its the white milk goes bad more often in schools because when children are given the choice they take the unhealthy one so WE must make it for them until they can properly and with wisdom make their own choices.

A lot of fat people are fat because their lives aren't emotionally stable as well. Its a form of addiction. Children can have addictions too and food can be one of them and the parents can be the enablers of that addiction by saying yes or allowing their children to eat too much or to eat when something is upsetting their child. More love, more attention needs to be given to these fat little shits and the adults in their lives need to slow down and be conscious of their parenting skills.

 

[Tim]

It also takes nothing for a parent NOT to buy the food that make them fat.

Actually this is a big part of the problem in many areas.

If you don't know what a "food desert" is, I suggest you look it up and see how it DOES make a difference.

When there isn't fresh fruits and vegetables available it makes a big difference. There are areas where the nearest supermarket is miles away. This forces many families to buy from local convenience stores, products like chips, soda, hot dogs, etc.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june10/food_06-03.html

 

[Mystic]

Actually this is a big part of the problem in many areas.

If you don't know what a "food desert" is, I suggest you look it up and see how it DOES make a difference.

When there isn't fresh fruits and vegetables available it makes a big difference. There are areas where the nearest supermarket is miles away. This forces many families to buy from local convenience stores, products like chips, soda, hot dogs, etc.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june10/food_06-03.html

Very interesting.:nod: I hadn't realized there was a term for it and it quite true... we've certainly gone away from the 'village' mentality where everything you needed was a walk away from your doorstep. However...does it not make the excuse for us to be lazy by giving it this label? Perhaps the extra travel time to gain access to such variety in foods would also lead to a healthier lifestyle.

Just watching that video in your post, and the one thing going through my head is why aren't they growing some of their own produce?...wow...never-mind...I had no idea it was THAT bad in the USA. Why do your people allow that to happen in your country? Your people need more of a voice and command your government to do more for its people. The US may shit on the term Socialism but Capitalism doesn't seem to be working....but thats a whole other argument.

I'm truly shocked that areas in the US, a rich country, aren't providing the necessary needs for its people....and the more i think on it the same could be said of Canada too, as there are communities where they fly in their produce and it is sold for tremendous amounts of money. Demographics.

I suppose what it comes down to is these people need to uproot themselves to better areas with access.

They need to take back some of the land to grow their own produce and have farmers markets so they can trade between each other.

too many excuses.

 

[Joe the meek]

Joe you are right. But, the sad truth is, if nothing is done, what is it going to cost if this becomes such an obese individual they cannot care for themselves? They will get on disability and will be getting government assistance worth much more than a counselor's visit, and then they will start suffering horrible health problems that the tax payers will be paying for!

Not that I disagree with you, but why not outlaw smoking?

Another fact that I have come to learn is that you cannot save people from themselves.

Another sad fact is that children did not get to pick their parents.

 

[Tim]

You are correct about growing your own... but there are many urban areas where this is happening where that isn't possible.
I saw a documentary once where the mother would work all day just to make ends meet and when she needed to go grocery shopping, it was a 2 hour trip each way. She had to take 3 different buses just to get to the nearest grocery store. How often do you think she can do that a week? How many bags of groceries can she carry on the bus with her?
This was a family with a mother and father, both working full time jobs just to make ends meet. So I'm not sure they could be considered lazy... and this story can be seen all across our country.

And you're right about us, we let this happen. These grocery stores move out because profits are better in the next town over...

One bright thing about this, there are many communities trying to make a difference. They are growing community gardens and organizing shuttle buses to get to the stores.

 

[HK]

Another fact that I have come to learn is that you cannot save people from themselves.

No, but you can try and save children from a detrimental home environment.

It's easy with adults to say 'they should know better' and let them get on with slowly killing themselves, but kids are at the mercy of what their parents choose to feed and teach them when it comes to food. Children can't go out and buy their own meals if mum keeps serving up mcdonalds, and most children in that situation wouldn't want to anyway, because they've never known anything different.

I don't think that foster care is appropriate. Only if the life of the child were in immediate danger from the lack of nutrition that their parent was providing, with no visible effort from the parent to make changes. But for a lot of people, it's always going to be easier to go with unhealthy options because they're cheaper, faster and simpler. There should be some measures in place to try and help people back onto a healthier track - the problem is, anything that might work involves time and money.

 

[Siphorous]

In summary, no.