Should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

joehempel

An interesting article. This isn't about disorders in which kids get obese by medical conditions, it's more about the parents not controlling what their children eat, and thus threatening the life of the child by poor choices.

For me, there should be some sort of intervention before taking the kids away. But none-the-less, and interesting article.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/12/20110712obese-kids-custody-cases.html

NikkisNewStart

I think it should be treated like any other child abuse case.

xraychick77

yes

Apryl546

That is definitely considered child abuse, but I do agree that some action should be taken before removing the children from the family.
If the family can make the changes to make life for their child more healthy (given that's the only problem), then they should definitly have a chance.

mbrinzer

i dont know if i agree with that but only because thats the same thing as saying that my child should be taken off of me becaus ehe is underweight. he has been underweight since he was 6 months old and there is nothing else that i can do! i literally sit and feed every meal to my 4 yr old to try and make sure he is eating enough. i also use carnation instant breakfast added to his milk after every meal. he is just not going to get big...............

joehempel

Well I think being underweight, and it being out of your control...I couldn't gain weight when I was young...and I ate everything! And feeding your kids fast food 3 meals a day are two different things.

I think some sort of education of the parents and also therapy should happen first...then after say 6mo to a year, there should be some sizable difference.

If nothing happens then, I think it would be gross negligence.

eeeekie

IDK...I come from a household where my mom controlled how much and what I ate but I somehow managed to sneak and hide food from her. It's not her fault that I was fat/obese as she wasn't feeding me crazy amounts of food that caused me to gain. We didn't eat extremely healthily either (she was on welfare when I was growing up) so the foods we did eat were cheap and quick but our portions were child size.

Every household is different. Some parents are very strict which causes kids to sneak and hide food. Some parents are enablers and feed, feed, feed their kids till they burst.

I don't think I should have been taken away from my mother, she did what she could with what she had.

ninerbuff

Taking away is extreme IMO. Intervention is more appropriate. Parents do need to be responsible though since kids aren't buying the food. They are only eating what's available to them.

Lollyvoddy

I'm not sure on that one, I think like anything, you'd have to take it case by case. I was so sad to see the statistic 'Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese.' That is double the amount of children we have in our entire country! Heart breaking.

Choirgirl37

A former colleague once invited me to a church event with her family. I was seated at a table with her 2 yr. old daughter and the rest of the family. I was speechless when the child's plate of food arrived and was placed in front of her by her mother.

The 2 yr. old was served: 3 fried whole chicken wings, about 1 cup of mac & cheese and nearly 3 cups of spagetti! NO KIDDING!! I was in total shock because I didn't know a child this age was capable of eating so much and I was horrified that the mother would dare to put such unhealthy portions on her child's plate.

The child ate half of one wing and a couple spoons of mac and cheese, then she proceeded to move away from the dinner table.

At that moment, you would have thought a fire drill sounded because several members of the family haulted her, even sent for the mother to return from the kitchen and aide with making sure the child remained at the table to finish what was on her plate. The mother came to her child, sat next to her and insisted that she eat all her food.

After awhile, I couldn't watch anymore; I had to leave.

This 2 yr. old weighed so much, I was sure I could not lift her even though I weighed 170 lbs.

Yes indeed! That is child abuse.

eeeekie

Taking away is extreme IMO. Intervention is more appropriate. Parents do need to be responsible though since kids aren't buying the food. They are only eating what's available to them.

Agreed. It's obvious (look at the members on this site! there's lots of us that just don't know how to be healthy before coming here) there are a lot of adults that were taught how to eat by their parents and really don't know HOW to eat properly or healthily.

pnwgirl1963

What about kids who play too much video games? Or kids who are thin who drink energy drinks and eat too much candy? Or kids who bully others. Where do we draw the line? I agree morbid obesity in kids is dangerous. But taking a child out of the family home and breaking up a family I am not so sure. I guess if mom and dad were smoking crack we would remove minor children. Very complicated

daryls

What about if parents don't feed their children enough? That is definitely reportable to DCFS (here in Ca).

AI1108

I don't agree with taking children away from parents just because they're obese. We don't take children away from teen moms that can't provide for their children, why should we take them away because they are overfeeding their child? A little education can go a long way though. Growing up I had pizza every Tuesday night and lived practically across the street from McDonalds. I must have had a fast metabolism and the fact that I was in a bunch of sports in high school must have helped because 140 lbs was the heaviest I've ever gotten (I was 130 in high school), but I could see that adversely affecting other children if that sorta food was all they ever ate. When I wasn't hungry anymore I would just tell my mother that I wasn't hungry. I don't think it's always in the parents control. I know families where parents stock their pantries with sugary snacks to keep their kids out of their hair and one child will be a normal size and the other will be obese. Maybe teaching kids about health education early on and if PE class at public schools wasn't such a joke sometimes, it could help this too.

Makers72

I think te government coming in and telling ANYONE how they should raise THEIR children should be a no-no unless the parents are physically beating them or not feeding them.


Our government already has too much power, giving them more power will only result in the giving and giving of more of our freedoms. Pretty soon we wont be able to buy soda, sugar, or go to mcdonalds more than twice a week.

Then we will have to eat only what the government will allow. If you pay attention to current events you can see the chain of events that is already happening. I for one can controll how much soda i drink and how much fast food i eat. Dont punish us all on the account of others.

LeelaLosing

It seems that there should be mandatory parenting classes pre- and post-birth because what would seem common sense to me apparently isn't to a lot of people.

There seems to be alot of ignorance and selfishness and mental issues among parents.

And I agree that it seems more appropriate to provide some intervention before children are taken away (which I think is the case in some instances depending...), in the end the child and family suffers if anything inappropriate, unhealthy or damaging occurs. Why wait until a child is affected to start correction, why not provide mandatory child-rearing classes covering nutrition, behavior, hygiene, appropriate discipline, stress, etc. and the penalties and consequences if they do not adhere to proper guidelines?

It would take some figuring out how and where to fit it in and who would pay for it, If we had a national health plan it would seem to fit right in.....

k2d4p

It truly hurts my heart to see obese children. I think that parents should be given a warning and a very specific time limit for said warning and if nothing changes, then yes, take them.

k2d4p

I think te government coming in and telling ANYONE how they should raise THEIR children should be a no-no unless the parents are physically beating them or not feeding them.


Our government already has too much power, giving them more power will only result in the giving and giving of more of our freedoms. Pretty soon we wont be able to buy soda, sugar, or go to mcdonalds more than twice a week.

Then we will have to eat only what the government will allow. If you pay attention to current events you can see the chain of events that is already happening. I for one can controll how much soda i drink and how much fast food i eat. Dont punish us all on the account of others.

In the description in the original post, it is the parents fault the kids are obese and is in my opinion, definitely physical abuse.

ivyjbres

I think that parent's should first have the opportunity do get assistance that would really help the child.

My son is 4 and doesn't talk. When he was 2.5 he started speech therapy at no cost to us. At 3, he started PPCD at no cost to us. He improves, just very slowly... But my point is, we saw a problem, and were given an avenue to address that problem, even though there's no way we could afford it if we had been asked to pay for it.

I think the same should apply in obesity cases. These families clearly either don't know what they're doing wrong, or as one of the mothers pointed out, can't afford healthy food. Maybe making a weight loss clinic available to them with nutritionists, or a WIC/foodstamp sort of program where the food provided is healthy. But CPS showing up on someone's doorstep and saying, "Your kids too fat, we're taking them." doesn't address the real problem. It may address the one fat kid, but we all know that fat isn't just a medical condition, its usually a symptom of something else. And if you aren't addressing that, you're not going to make a significant long term difference.

joehempel

Why wait until a child is affected to start correction, why not provide mandatory child-rearing classes covering nutrition, behavior, hygiene, appropriate discipline, stress, etc. and the penalties and consequences if they do not adhere to proper guidelines?

If I remember correctly, there were classes that my wife and I had to take about caring for a child, and they were mandatory...it was about the baby food and what certain cries could me etc. Nothing about penalties though...that should be a part of it to. Scared straight!!

But that was a few years ago, and I'm lucky to remember what I was told a few hours ago LOL.

Keleb_DaWhiz

It kind of depends on the situtation.....

jesshall281

IDK...I come from a household where my mom controlled how much and what I ate but I somehow managed to sneak and hide food from her. It's not her fault that I was fat/obese as she wasn't feeding me crazy amounts of food that caused me to gain. We didn't eat extremely healthily either (she was on welfare when I was growing up) so the foods we did eat were cheap and quick but our portions were child size.

With all due respect, my mother was a single mother of 2 and also got a lot of help from benefits when we were younger, but instead of buying cheap burgers, she'd buy raw fruit and vegetables and learn to cook. I'm not taking 'being on welfare' as an excuse im afraid, we were giving home cooked, healthy food on a tight budget. and we never had the opportunity in our household to sneak food or hide food, because there was no food to hide, just raw vegetables and fruit! Just wondering if the food you were hiding were chocolates/sweets/crisps etc..? because if it was, then your mother is partly to blame for you being fat as a child..sorry, im just saying

unsuspectingfish

A former colleague once invited me to a church event with her family. I was seated at a table with her 2 yr. old daughter and the rest of the family. I was speechless when the child's plate of food arrived and was placed in front of her by her mother.

The 2 yr. old was served: 3 fried whole chicken wings, about 1 cup of mac & cheese and nearly 3 cups of spagetti! NO KIDDING!! I was in total shock because I didn't know a child this age was capable of eating so much and I was horrified that the mother would dare to put such unhealthy portions on her child's plate.

The child ate half of one wing and a couple spoons of mac and cheese, then she proceeded to move away from the dinner table.

At that moment, you would have thought a fire drill sounded because several members of the family haulted her, even sent for the mother to return from the kitchen and aide with making sure the child remained at the table to finish what was on her plate. The mother came to her child, sat next to her and insisted that she eat all her food.

After awhile, I couldn't watch anymore; I had to leave.

This 2 yr. old weighed so much, I was sure I could not lift her even though I weighed 170 lbs.

Yes indeed! That is child abuse.

That's TERRIFYING, and definitely child abuse. I don't even know if I could eat all that!

I was consistently underweight until age 5, to the point where my mother almost got a visit from CPS. She fed me just as much as my brothers, though, and they weren't underweight. I eventually filled out (obviously), but there was a genetic factor there that people outside the family found troublesome.

I think it can go the other way, but I also think that overfeeding can be just as dangerous to a child as underfeeding. Children are limited by what food the parents buy, and often by what food the parents put on the plate. I think the option should definitely be on the table for the state to intervene when the child is in immediate danger. I also think education and assistance for these families is much more important. It's better to prevent any of this from being necessary in the first place.

LukeBarrs

I think it's a massive issue and one that effects the family as a whole not just the kids. After all, how many families have you seen where the child is severley overweight and the parents arn't, in those rare cases you can assume a medical condition or perhaps abuse. The issue is in most cases the parents being unable to take care of their own bodies and passing that on to the child. I would love to see a push for education on food and places like Mcdonalds being made to create awareness of the damage fast food can do to your body, and hopefully follow suit by increasing the quality of their meat and produce generally.

I don't know if anyone saw "Jamie's Food Revolution" but that hit on some of the big issues contributing to childhood obesity.

kendrafallon

*bump*
A thought provoking debate for sure...not sure what I think. And may come back and post more later, but I defintely want to keep track of what's being said, as I was an overweight child and would've been classed as obese by today's standards.

deftodie

I don't think that weight itself should be the judging factor--but nourishment. Being underweight can be attributed to different things, such as being premature, or high metabolism, but they still receive the right nutritional content to be healthy.

I guess one would have to ask if an obese child is receiving the nutritional content they should be. I know as a nurse and many obese adults (and alcoholics), they are malnourished due to irratic eating habits, binging and crazy diets. This can be translated into the children. Tough question.

debbiequack

I'm not sure on that one, I think like anything, you'd have to take it case by case. I was so sad to see the statistic 'Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese.' That is double the amount of children we have in our entire country! Heart breaking.

I always wonder, for folks who are hyper into taking kids away (as opposed to taking steps to keep families together) if they have adopted or would be willing to adopt?

There aren't enough foster/adoptive parents, as it is.

Debbie

deftodie

To be the devils advocate (and being from Canada and knowing the changes to the American health care system)--how will you feel about paying taxes/health care costs for other people that choose to eat, drink and do to their bodies what they will and to their children? These people and their kids is what forces up healthcare costs due to chronic illnesses that are considered PREVENTABLE. Obesity is preventable is most people (there are some diseases that make low weight nearly impossible).

I'm all for pro-choice, but honestly, as a nurse, i think the government should be able to say when enough is enough, and when they can draw the line to limit costs. If you chose to live a healthy lifestyle and suddenly needed hospitalization for whatever reason, but had to wait because the beds were already full of people from chronic heart problems, strokes, diabetes, etc., you'd likely get a little frustrated too. Your wait times increase substantially and you get worse care based on time for diagnosis. I just think its a little uneven. Same analogy can be used if I needed a lung transplant and i was a smoker, and you needed one and you werent a smoker, and I got the priority regardless of how preventable lunch cancer can be.

That's my two cents, like I said, I'm pro choice, but I hope people make better choices every day. I love my job, but its sometimes exhausting listening to people that neglect themselves intentionally, some don't know better because of lack of education/age, and some choose to keep themselves mal-informed; and then there's me: we have the tools and knowledge and we cant get our crap together hehe

bex1408

I think that like the others have said, there should be things in place to prevent it from happening. I agree that there is no reason for a really obese child, it's purely down to bad parenting imo (someone hit the nail on the head when they talked about the parents bringing the food into the house). I understand a little puppy fat, but i've seen kids here that are four and bigger than me - and i'm overweight for my size, age etc.

My kids are only two, they eat the same but are chalk and cheese. One would happily gorge on sweet things all day if he was allowed, the other doesn't mind much. I'm quite strict with their food, home make and freeze a lot of their meals so that they are eating healthily when i'm not around. Don't get me wrong they get the odd bit of convenience food but their overall diet is good. I'm strict about it because i didn't want them to grow up eating how i did. My parents worked, a lot, so we had a lot of convenience food, but they also had bad habits. The shopping would come home and my dad would be straight into the bags for two chocolate yoghurts, a packet of crisps and two slices of bread and butter. Nobody in my family or near to me exercised.

I know i'm in control of my own eating etc but growing up with that to watch will of course affect the choices you make. Then before you realise it you're fat! I don't want my kids to grow up and have to face the battle i'm facing - that's why i'm fighting it now.

I think it would be really beneficial though if people were actually taught about nutrition etc. When i was at school the home ec class was about making chocolate and cheese bread - there was nothing about what sort of food we should be eating etc. It's a whole new thing that i'm having to explore by myself - and doing it whilst trying to juggle a job and two kids is tough. It should be something we grow up learning about. Half of the problem in my opinion now is that nobody really knows what a healthy balanced diet is until they actively go looking to find out.

Leish81

The mother's in the article where CPS intervened, did NOT lose their children in 5 minutes. CPS usually doesn't make immediate decisions on whether a child should be removed from a home unless there is imminent bodily harm. The mothers knew there was an open CPS case against them. CPS workers must investigate all situation.

What I find sad is when parents complain that they have no time to cook so all they can do is feed their children fast food and processed food. And honestly for anyone to have that excuse is rediculous! Oatmeal takes 1 minutes to make in the microwave. It takes 5 minutes to season chicken breasts and put them on a pan and into the oven. Do something else for the next 45 minutes and there will also be pre-made chicken for fast meals. No one is saying be a gourmet chef. But chili in a crockpot is cheap, healthy and easy to make.

I do understand that there are more sales on processed foods than wholesome foods. BUT 1 apple will fill a person up much more than a sleeve of sugar-filled Oreo cookies. So 2 apples is definitely cheaper than a package of Oreos. Wholesome foods fill humans up faster and for longer. Hence in the long run, making them the same price or cheaper.

WIC (government benefits) are very strict with what parents can buy. They include wholesome healthy foods. So that excuse flies out the window.

I do blame my mother for most of my horrible eating habits. She never cooked and all we ate was junk, processed, refined foods. So that is what I knew. Nutritional foods are down the "center ailses." We know what we are taught by schools, parents, and tv. It took me many years to learn how to feed my body. If I was told my snack was an apple or nothing, I truly believe I would've known many years ago that I love apples and that they fuel the body for the long term not the quick sugar fix.

With all that prefaced, I truly believe in intervention before removal. I think if groups can implement free nutrition and cooking classes for parents than many of these cases won't become super obese/child abuse cases. But if intervention doesn't work and the child is still obese then yes, maybe removal is the best for the child.

travelprincess

When there are children out there being physically and emotionally harmed, on purpose, that are still no taken away I find it ridiculous that a child would be taken away. In many cases the parents were never taught to eat right as well and dont understand what the problem is.
How about making healthy eating classes available for FREE. Everywhere I have seen you have to pay for them, something families arent willing to do. Maybe even having sports activities for kids a no charge or low cost.
You can't just take kids away from families who just don't understand the implications or know how to change it.