Childhood Obesity= CHILD ABUSE

echofm1

I really don't think labeling these parents as child abusers is going to help.

This. The children "in the system" really aren't any thinner than those who are not. Labeling a parent as a child abuser and taking away their child because their child is overweight isn't okay. Call them lazy if you want, but there's a lot more to it than just not caring. There's also something to say for the culture of your family.

I have a friend from Singapore who has struggled with eating disorders her whole life because her family constantly says she's getting fat, even when she was under 100 pounds. I got fat because I looked up to my dad and copied his eating patterns without realizing it. For my family, the amount I was eating wasn't abnormal because my dad is a pretty active guy. He just knew nothing about calories and nutrition (when I first started, he was surprised I was counting the calories in the ribs he made. It's all protein—that doesn't have calories. This was said in complete seriousness). My getting fat wasn't child abuse, just a difference in body type and activity from my parents.

Escloflowne

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

DeltaZero

kethry70

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

read/watch these articles/reports

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdGYitGIIps

Answer one question for me: Do you have children?

Nope. But she is young and an idealist and apparently blames her parents for her weight.

randomtai

STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

amyparrish9

"No, your face does." David Spade, Tommy Boy

0somuchbetter0

Ultimately we, the overweight, are responsible for what we put in our mouth. As children; however, this gets complicated. I would agree that childhood obesity is primarily the parent's fault. This lack of responsibility on the part of the parents lead to a lack of responsibility in the child. With that said, I do not agree that this constitutes child abuse. That is a major leap.

EDIT: Iron_Feline made a great point. It is a case by case decision. Some situations could definitely be child abuse.

Agreed

zyxst

STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

wibutterflymagic

Yes, childhood obesity is running rampant but I don't believe it should be labeled as "child abuse". I really hate that term because everyone throws it around these days for multitudes of situations that are not close to abuse. Abuse is something that someone does to another with full knowledge of their actions and are trying to purposefully inflict pain or injury on a regular basis.

Most of the time a child is obese because the parent is obese and do not have the knowledge of how to eat properly. What needs to happen is EDUCATION. I don't have kids so I don't know the curiculum in schools but if there are not mandatory nutritional classes throughout a childs education there needs to be. One class in junior high doesn't cut it either. It needs to be on a regular basis throughout a childs school life. This is the only way that this cycle of bad eating habits is going to end.

DeltaZero

STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

Cliffslosinit

Yes, haven't we lost enough rights already!
Hey you gave your kids a soda and a snickers!!
You're just horrible!
Give me those children, I CAN DO BETTER!!

That is all we need is more BIG Government!
Pfft!

LMAO!!

SconnieCat

STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

sarahmoo12

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

I like this idea!!!

_HeartsOnFire_

I love Maru!!!

Iron_Feline

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

I like this idea!!!

Crossed my mind several times.

_HeartsOnFire_

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

I like this idea!!!

Me too!!!

George_Baileys_Ghost

Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

QFT

And also, the fact that anyone would compare a parent whose kid gets overweight to one who is a miserable, despicable, subhuman who beats/belittles/molests their child to try and make themselves feel better, is both ridiculous and incredibly naive, to say the least.

paperpudding

I don't like the labelling of parents as lazy if their children are obese - especially by people who are not parents themselves, as I believe you are not,OP.

If we are going to tackle childhood obesity we need to do it collaboratively - ie working with families without using derogatory terms or apportioning blame. No one responds well to that.

Educating parents to make better choices and to understand nutrition better is more useful, as well as looking at other factors, such as safe areas for children to play outdoors, encouraging physical activity, like sports for everyone not just the ' A graders', providing more nutritious food in school canteens etc.

BamaBreezeNSaltAire

Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

BOOM! Agreed.

nilbogger

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

I like this idea!!!

What if you don't lose your baby weight quickly enough, though? Should your child be taken away?

DeltaZero

I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.

I like this idea!!!

Me too!!!

You forget the part about requiring people to take a test before they get on the internets.

Cranquistador

RINat612

STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

Did you hear about the High School Football coach who was fired for handing these out to his students after they lost a big game?

fullersun35

Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

This.

My SIL and her husband are foster parents. They weigh around 500 lbs each. Putting obese kids with them wouldn't help the situation.

pikachumeat

I totally agree that childhood obesity is a HUGE problem and can definitely constitute abuse. However, I also think it really depends. My cousin does a lot of social work and over the past few years, she's seen all kinds of cases of this matter ranging from:-

"I know what I'm feeding my child is unhealthy but I can't afford healthy food/don't know any other way. I need help."

to

"I really don't give a *kitten* and you should get the hell out of my face."

A lot of the families that got help were able to get their health on track (or are trying to) but my cousin's also seen a 13 year old boy almost three times the weight he should be for his height, age, and activity level. He was bullied and miserable and he acted/felt like his life was all over before it really began. It's really about reaching out to these families and their children with the right kind of help that they need, as well as making resources and knowledge more openly available. (Unfortunately, easier said than done)

jkwolly

"No, your face does." David Spade, Tommy Boy

Such a good movie!

k8blujay2

Yea, attacking the parents isn't the solution.

Our problem is that crap food is the food that keeps the longest and is prepackaged for convenience. Convenience usually wins over healthiest. With two parent working families it gets harder and harder to provide fresh fruit and vegetables or even to prepare meals from scratch rather than a drive through at McD or BK.

Our society is JUST as much to blame because we let capitalism do this to us as much as anything else.

So, I don't buy this one. Why aren't sodas, candies, cakes and other obvious luxury junk foods taxed like cigarettes as a simple example.

There are solutions, but blaming parents isn't it.

If my kid was only offered whole and nutritious food, she would starve.... and then I would be charged with neglect... does she eat whole and nutritous food... sure... but not as much as she should... and force feeding a 30 lb bag of snakes in the body of a threenager... yeah, you try and see how that works for you.... I'm lucky if I can get her to eat two bites of anything that consists of homemade meals and snacks.

shining_light

OK, last one from me.

Photoshopped. That cat would have to have a really wide skull for his ears to look like that...

But I digress. It's obvious that parents' eating habits have a lot to do with children overeating. My stepson, for example, will be very adamant when he's full, even when it's junk food(except last night. Ate 3/4 of an individual pizza and a bowl of nacho chips. Wtf was that??). For the most part, though, he is a healthy eater on his own provided he is presented with healthy foods. But even when he is presented with unhealthy food, he doesn't naturally gorge on them. He has a surprising amount of portion control that I as an adult do not have naturally. It's weird, and I wonder how this works for other kids. Is it just that you become desensitized to eating large amounts of food if you're served them on a regular basis at a young age? I allow him to make a lot of eating decisions on his own, but I have hammered home the point that healthy food makes you feel good. He at age five understands that, but little kids who have been eating mostly junk from the time they were eating solid food may have no idea how much better you feel eating good food than junk because they've eaten mostly junk.

That was a very roundabout way of me saying that yes, of course it's the parents' faults. Not presenting your kids with healthy food and opportunities for exercise because you're lazy is abusive, but it's an insidious type of abuse, so people won't notice it until the kid is already fat and unhealthy.

ETA: Those who have trouble getting their kids to eat healthy: Children really are not the smartest critters on the planet. You can trick them into eating healthy foods just by using cookie cutters or shredding veggies into other foods that hide them(I loved zucchini bread as a kid). I don't have to trick mine into trying new things usually(though when I do, everything is "chicken" or "a new kind of *insert familiar vegetable.*"). He's pretty smart, but he's not THAT smart.

CompressedCarbon

Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

I so agree. So incredibly agree.

likitisplit

Wait a second? I'm to blame for my fat cat? What do you think I do, hold her down and shove kibble in her mouth?

You know when she got fat? When I took her in, spayed her and forced her into a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Lack of activity kills, but there is no way I could replicate the exercise she got outdoors.