Should Parents Lose Custody of Super Obese Kids?

frostiegurl

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303678704576442313653877034.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Not sure if this has been brought up previously but I thought it was interesting and wanted to get other people's opinions on the idea that parents are responsible for the dietary/fitness habits of their children.

newfielover

they absolutely should not lose their children! The kid could take responsibility for it if they so desired. While some blame lays with the parents, not enough to warrant taking away their children!!

foreverloved

They should be required to get therapy and as much help as they can in my opinion but not lose their kids.

deesjourney2fit

I don't think they should lose their children but do think that educational or therapy sessions should be provided to the entire family/community.

frostiegurl

they absolutely should not lose their children! The kid could take responsibility for it if they so desired. While some blame lays with the parents, not enough to warrant taking away their children!!

Even a 90 lb 3 year old?

pnieuw

they absolutely should not lose their children! The kid could take responsibility for it if they so desired. While some blame lays with the parents, not enough to warrant taking away their children!!

To play devil's advocate, the 12 year old in the article that weighed 400 pounds should be responsible for their actions and not the parent?

SavannaN

they absolutely should not lose their children! The kid could take responsibility for it if they so desired. While some blame lays with the parents, not enough to warrant taking away their children!!

How can a child take responsibility for it if a parent only buys junk food and their parents have only ever stuck them in front of a tv their entire life?? The parent needs to take responsibility for it!!!!
That being said, no, they should not loose their child just for that, but they should have to go do some kinda of counseling and get nutritional guidance..... JMO

bunchesonothing

They should be required to get therapy and as much help as they can in my opinion but not lose their kids.

Agreed!

smudger_24

I think yes - Its a form of child abuse, just a reverse of starving the kid!

dragonflydi

In that sort of situation, I would like to see the parents be required to take some nutrition classes and get nutrition counseling. Chances are if the children are obese, so are the parents and the whole family could benefit.

smudger_24

In that sort of situation, I would like to see the parents be required to take some nutrition classes and get nutrition counseling. Chances are if the children are obese, so are the parents and the whole family could benefit.

This is true........!

Avalonis

Absolutely not. That's a slippery slope you're talking. Taking kids away for not teaching them certain things is overstepping governments bounds, at best. What happens if the kid has a thyroid disorder and eats fairly healthy and still gains weight? Then the burden would be on the parents to prove they didn't do anything wrong.

Besides, then where do you draw the line? You then start taking kids away that are too skinny, or too lazy, or have attitude problems, or are simply bratty?

And for that matter, who pays for their care then? The government is already out of money, they simply cant afford things like this anymore.

Lets face it... life isn't fair. Yes, having crappy parents sucks. But when that kid grows up, and being fat isnt gonna kill you before 18, he or she makes their own decisions.

P.S. This is such a politically charged topic, I'm giving it 15 minutes before the mods delete it...

*Edit: One other thing, most kids that are THAT overweight, like the kids in the article, arent just from over eating. Its from some other health issue behind the scenes.*

PlanetVelma

Absolutely not. That's a slippery slope you're talking. Taking kids away for not teaching them certain things is overstepping governments bounds, at best. What happens if the kid has a thyroid disorder and eats fairly healthy and still gains weight? Then the burden would be on the parents to prove they didn't do anything wrong.

Besides, then where do you draw the line? You then start taking kids away that are too skinny, or too lazy, or have attitude problems, or are simply bratty?

And for that matter, who pays for their care then? The government is already out of money, they simply cant afford things like this anymore.

Lets face it... life isn't fair. Yes, having crappy parents sucks. But when that kid grows up, and being fat isnt gonna kill you before 18, he or she makes their own decisions.

P.S. This is such a politically charged topic, I'm giving it 15 minutes before the mods delete it...

*Edit: One other thing, most kids that are THAT overweight, like the kids in the article, arent just from over eating. Its from some other health issue behind the scenes.*

Exactly! This is why I don't sign petitions for new laws, because our existing laws should be enough (I live in CA, we have too many laws as it is!), it's how they are applied.

It's a tough one because you want the kid to learn about health/nutrition, etc... but you don't want the govt to overstep their bounds because than we have another nanny state.

*sigh* I told my fiance that I think schools should focus on nutrition more - my daughter is 9 and NONE of her teachers since pre-K have talked about nutrition. They do talk about exercise, but I think those should go hand in hand.

My son is in HS and they do NOT have any home ec classes @ his high school - I think HS is the perfect age to teach teens not just HOW to cook, but how to cook healthy, portion control, exercise, etc...

peripah

Children who are severely obese are not properly nourished. Parents are responible for the health of their children. In Canada social services works from a 'family first' perspective, so obese children would be unlikely to be removed from the home.

I'm a social worker and one family I worked with a few years ago had a 260 pound 13 year old son. This kid was referred to me by his school counsellor as being in need of socialization skills. Why would a 13 year old need socialization skills? A visit to his family's home showed me why: TV, Xbox and dvd player in his bedroom, chips, chocolate bars and pop everywhere in the house, and parents who didn't stand up to greet me when I shook their hands. Asked the parents if they would speak to a nutritionist. They replied, "We did already, she didn't know what she was talking about". Alright then.

What's my point? I dunno. Thinking about that poor kid and his family made me mad.

sarah_ep

Absolutely not. That's a slippery slope you're talking. Taking kids away for not teaching them certain things is overstepping governments bounds, at best. What happens if the kid has a thyroid disorder and eats fairly healthy and still gains weight? Then the burden would be on the parents to prove they didn't do anything wrong.

Besides, then where do you draw the line? You then start taking kids away that are too skinny, or too lazy, or have attitude problems, or are simply bratty?

And for that matter, who pays for their care then? The government is already out of money, they simply cant afford things like this anymore.

Lets face it... life isn't fair. Yes, having crappy parents sucks. But when that kid grows up, and being fat isnt gonna kill you before 18, he or she makes their own decisions.

P.S. This is such a politically charged topic, I'm giving it 15 minutes before the mods delete it...

*Edit: One other thing, most kids that are THAT overweight, like the kids in the article, arent just from over eating. Its from some other health issue behind the scenes.*

I think the article is talking about very extreme cases, in once instance, one of the children almost died. I do not think the slope is so slippery when the result is death. Once they were removed from the situation and their parents they lost substantial amount of weight. The weight were causing the other issues, it is possible to get that big from just eating too much.

I do agree there should be counseling but the counseling should be done before it gets to the point stated in the articles.

Avalonis

Children who are severely obese are not properly nourished. Parents are responible for the health of their children. In Canada social services works from a 'family first' perspective, so obese children would be unlikely to be removed from the home.

I'm a social worker and one family I worked with a few years ago had a 260 pound 13 year old son. This kid was referred to me by his school counsellor as being in need of socialization skills. Why would a 13 year old need socialization skills? A visit to his family's home showed me why: TV, Xbox and dvd player in his bedroom, chips, chocolate bars and pop everywhere in the house, and parents who didn't stand up to greet me when I shook their hands. Asked the parents if they would speak to a nutritionist. They replied, "We did already, she didn't know what she was talking about". Alright then.

What's my point? I dunno. Thinking about that poor kid and his family made me mad.

Lol... if you don't have a point, isn't it just babbling?

hsnider29

Absolutely not. That's a slippery slope you're talking. Taking kids away for not teaching them certain things is overstepping governments bounds, at best. What happens if the kid has a thyroid disorder and eats fairly healthy and still gains weight? Then the burden would be on the parents to prove they didn't do anything wrong.

Besides, then where do you draw the line? You then start taking kids away that are too skinny, or too lazy, or have attitude problems, or are simply bratty?

And for that matter, who pays for their care then? The government is already out of money, they simply cant afford things like this anymore.

Lets face it... life isn't fair. Yes, having crappy parents sucks. But when that kid grows up, and being fat isnt gonna kill you before 18, he or she makes their own decisions.

P.S. This is such a politically charged topic, I'm giving it 15 minutes before the mods delete it...

*Edit: One other thing, most kids that are THAT overweight, like the kids in the article, arent just from over eating. Its from some other health issue behind the scenes.*

I agree with you about it being a slippery slope. There are very few and rare medical conditions that would contribute to someone being obese. Thyroid disorder is not one of them. Hypothyroidism may cause decreased BMR but I believe that diet and exercise still play a huge role in a person's weight. People with hypothyroidism may have difficulty losing weight or experience weight gain but it would not cause them to be obese if they were eating healthy and doing some sort of physical activity. That being said, no, I don't think children should be taken away but it is the parents' responsibility not the childs unless they are able to obtain or buy food for themselves.

boomboom011

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and by that I mean parents take responsibility for your kids! A 12-year old is not responsible and shouldnt be made to make decisions for theirselves. If you put that kind of responsibility on them for their health who are we to tell them they cant smoke or drink?

I totally understand the frustration and how angry this makes us cause most of the time its the parents. However, Losing their children over this? I think not.

If you dont like what the schools are serving then pack your kids lunch. Too many people make excuses. Lead by example. Well thats what we are doing my house.. You all are free to do what you want in yours. This is all just my opinion

P.S. the less this "government" is involved in our lives the better off we are.

Please excuse any grammer or typographical errors! Cause i see too many to fix!

dragonflydi

Lead by example. Well thats what we are doing my house.

Ditto!

Articeluvsmemphis

I didn't read the article, but wanted to reply to the issue in general. A parent shouldn't loose their child because the child is obese. I don't think it should be considered abuse because more than likely they are obese as well. Why? Bad habits that they never corrected, and think are okay for their kids. There is no doubt that my parents love me, but when it came to nutrition, all they knew is that fruits and vegetables were good; however, that didn't stop them from buying loads of packaged/processed/sweet/salty/fattening foods. and portion control, forget about it. So, we should teach parents about nutrition if we really care, not just take their child and place them in the hands of another imperfect human being. That would just be beyond crazy.

lovinmamaxo

I feel sorry for these kids more than anything. I grew up being obese and while my parent's were partly responsible for all the crap they fed us it was up to me as well.. i could have chosen the veggies over the mcdonalds my parents offered to buy that night. I weighed 220 lbs by the time i was in 8th grade and it was hard... i got made fun of all the time. I think with younger kids a lot of the responsibility does rely upon the parents. I have seen a LOT of very overweight kids lately... most of the time their parents were bigger as well.. not implying that the parents do it on purpose but perhaps the kids are eating what these parents are eating or just pure laziness and not wanting to cook is involved. Maybe the child is difficult and is always hungry... maybe they have a health condition?

I try not to judge but it's sad to see this especially in such young kids.. seeing as i went through the school years being overweight kids are NOT NICE at all to anyone who is different. Like i said i truly try not to judge but sometimes i think the parents just don't care and live on convenience foods. I strive for my kids to learn a different healthy lifestyle than i did growing up. They have their treats once in a while but we are not in the drive thru everyday either. We make sure they eat lots of fruits and veggies and tons of water. They have maybe 1 cup of juice 1x a week. Just my opinion though.

Avalonis

I didn't read the article, but wanted to reply to the issue in general. A parent shouldn't loose their child because the child is obese. I don't think it should be considered abuse because more than likely they are obese as well. Why? Bad habits that they never corrected, and think are okay for their kids. There is no doubt that my parents love me, but when it came to nutrition, all they knew is that fruits and vegetables were good; however, that didn't stop them from buying loads of packaged/processed/sweet/salty/fattening foods. and portion control, forget about it. So, we should teach parents about nutrition if we really care, not just take their child and place them in the hands of another imperfect human being. That would just be beyond crazy.

This.

Andythefitfamilyman

i agree with others that the parents and kids should take health classes, nutrion courses that sort of thing. Now i was "super obese" kid and im sure as hell glad i wasnt taken away. Did my parents teach me the best in eating, no, did they love me, protect me, teach me right from wrong, and how to be a good person. Yes.

Nana_Anne

IMHO.....Over the generations families have stopped interacting with one another. We have all kinds of situations from obese children, undisciplined children who throw tantrums until a parent gives in to just get them to stop, we have rebellious children even at age 3, we have children who are allowed to go anywhere on the internet, we have teenagers that are allowed to smoke...we have all kinds of situations that outsiders could judge as abuse BUT the responsibility of raising our children is NOT the goverments responsibility. Yes there are legal limits as to physical and sexual abuse. There are far too few foster homes. So where does the responsibility lay? The parents who raised the children. Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. Where is the extended families? We have become a generation that very few even know thier neighbors. Remember street football? Block parties? Maybe my age is showing. WE rely too much on the school system to teach our children nutrition, sex education, ect...And where are the parents. What happened to family meals at the table where everyone talk about what was going on? Life is different now. And our furture generation is the ones paying for it. I omce from a long line of over weight people. They had a funny term they called "the west butt". Not so funny now. Parents need to be involved with their children. No excuses that there isn't enough time with work ect...Instead of watching TV how about playing a game with the family : )

Umeboshi

I was 200 pounds at 15 I think, but my parents definitely shouldn't have had me taken away! They weren't stuffing food in my face or teaching me to overeat, I just ate some of the wrong stuff and a little too much in general on top of already being predisposed to being overweight. In fact my parents did a LOT to try to help me lose weight including always taking me on hikes and trying to get me active and taking me to a hospital run eating help course when I was 12 or so as well as encouraging good eating habits. You can't just FORCE a kid to exercise all day and not eat sweets til they lose weight because that's kind of abusive too especially emotionally. Not to mention the kids who may have undiagnosed cushings, thyroid issues, genetic defects, etc causing them to gain. Maybe for an EXTREME case like in the article the parents should be required to take the kid to a doctor and a therapist but if that doesn't work don't take the kid away. Taking a kid away from a loving family does FAR more damage than being obese can... obesity can be reversed but the emotional scarring from losing your family can mess you up forever. i know this is a super controversial topic and so I'm not going to go on an arguing spree but that's just my two cents.

SimplyDeLish

that opens a ton of issues - smokers, drug users, sleeping pill takers, etc. It's time for government to butt out - and I don't buy that the claimed $$'s they say the government spends is a fact. I've been heavy since 6th grade and am probably one of the healthiest people you'll ever meet!

i_love_vinegar

I think a doctor should be held by law to report obese (not overweight) children. Then have the parents warned as well as taught about ways to help their child, and hopefully they will shape up.

I think it is disgusting that a parent would put their child through all the complications and humiliations related to being obese, and I DO consider it neglect.

I don't think the child should be taken away from their parents though, as foster homes are notorious for being abusive...the last thing I would ever want was for a child who is already going through pain being obese to be raped and beaten.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is much to be done, except giving incentives and instilling fines.

Swimgoddess

Absolutely not. That's a slippery slope you're talking. Taking kids away for not teaching them certain things is overstepping governments bounds, at best. What happens if the kid has a thyroid disorder and eats fairly healthy and still gains weight? Then the burden would be on the parents to prove they didn't do anything wrong.

Besides, then where do you draw the line? You then start taking kids away that are too skinny, or too lazy, or have attitude problems, or are simply bratty?

And for that matter, who pays for their care then? The government is already out of money, they simply cant afford things like this anymore.

Lets face it... life isn't fair. Yes, having crappy parents sucks. But when that kid grows up, and being fat isnt gonna kill you before 18, he or she makes their own decisions.

P.S. This is such a politically charged topic, I'm giving it 15 minutes before the mods delete it...

*Edit: One other thing, most kids that are THAT overweight, like the kids in the article, arent just from over eating. Its from some other health issue behind the scenes.*

I agree, but kind of for a more sinister reason. I believe that the more government or medical intervention we have as a society the less "survival of the fittest" is able to go on. Why mess with something that's designed to weed out the weak?

Re-education is the way to go on this one.

PlanetVelma

that opens a ton of issues - smokers, drug users, sleeping pill takers, etc. It's time for government to butt out - and I don't buy that the claimed $$'s they say the government spends is a fact. I've been heavy since 6th grade and am probably one of the healthiest people you'll ever meet!

Agreed!

My father was an alcoholic, but was functional addict. He wasn't the best parent, but wasn't the worst either. In fact I think because he was an alcoholic it made me a BETTER parent.

I vowed to myself that my children would never have to coax me into the house on a Wed afternoon (after school) because I was passed out on the lawn....or that my children wouldn't have to hide the unemployment checks because I may blow it at the local bar...or that my children would have to worry about WHO would do the grocery shopping because I'm unable to drive (too many DUI's). Yea, my dad did all that crap....I had to go to school full time and come home and make sure he didn't drink us out of house and home.

No kid should have to go through that! BUT I appreciate those events because they made me a stronger person, a better parent and a more responsible adult.

rgutie1

I think the reason people are so divided on this issue is because they are looking at as a rather black or white issue.

I think there are certainly some cases where severe childhood obesity can be a form of child abuse and may warrant the child being temporarily or permanantly removed from the home.

I want to make it clear that I am not someone who always errors on the side of state custody. I am from the harm reduction point of view, so for example I do not think drug use is reason to always remove a child.

However severe obesity, especially in a pre-adolescent should be considered an indicator that a child's home situation should be investigated. This could lead to a number of prevention efforts other than removal, nutrition training, parenting training, etc.

The arguement of the cost of assuming the health care liability by taking custody of the child is short sighted. If the child has health insurance they are increasin goverall premiums becasue it is young people that make up the profitable side of any insurers coverage (those that pay but require less care). If they do not have private health care than the goverment is most likely paying for their care already. The cost of obesity on the American health care system is massive.

peripah

Children who are severely obese are not properly nourished. Parents are responible for the health of their children. In Canada social services works from a 'family first' perspective, so obese children would be unlikely to be removed from the home.

I'm a social worker and one family I worked with a few years ago had a 260 pound 13 year old son. This kid was referred to me by his school counsellor as being in need of socialization skills. Why would a 13 year old need socialization skills? A visit to his family's home showed me why: TV, Xbox and dvd player in his bedroom, chips, chocolate bars and pop everywhere in the house, and parents who didn't stand up to greet me when I shook their hands. Asked the parents if they would speak to a nutritionist. They replied, "We did already, she didn't know what she was talking about". Alright then.

What's my point? I dunno. Thinking about that poor kid and his family made me mad.

Lol... if you don't have a point, isn't it just babbling?

Ha ha! Yep.