Obese Child? They'll be taken away!

Kimbers70

Such BS. Seriously??? Take a child with a weight problem and stick them with strangers and see if that fixes the problem. Totally absurd! Perhaps get some ideas along the lines of teaching parents better ways to feed their children. So what do you say to a parent that has 2 kids that eat the same and one is overweight and one is not? Then who do we blame? The most ridiculous thing I have heard of in a long time.

lynnruiz81

I dont agree........taking a child away due to the parents not being educated isnt going to help them, it will scar them. They will be put into a foster home with people they dont know........I think the best thing to do is to educate these parents and children about nutrition. Alot of time the parents arent aware that they are causing harm, different culturers believe that food is a sign of love for their children. What about the kids who have medical issues and are gaining weight due to the medication and not due to the foods? or the kids who sneak food when the parents arent looking? You cant assume all obese kids are neglected or that the parents just dont care, sometimes its just a deeper issue than the parent or us as society can see.

springtrio

Yes, because have you lived in and out of foster care to know the difference? Trust me, being obese cannot EVER be compared to the beatings, and torture I went through on a daily basis. I'm not defending bad eating habits, but seriouslly, do you watch the news? Kids are being beaten, tortured, and not even treated as a human by the people who claim to love them. Sorry, I just can't agree. Take it from someone who wishes I would have been permanently adopted by someone, but I always slipped through the cracks and was always sent back to the abusive people.

chelekaz

I do not think it fair of you to say that any parent with an obese child should have that child taken away and that they do not love them. Maybe they never learned proper nutrition, maybe there child has an illness that doesn't allow foods to be processed the same way.

Make sure that you are the perfect parent lest someone in the future decide that something you are doing is cause to remove your child.

That all said... I do believe that it is important to teach PARENTS proper nutrition so that they can pass it on to their children. But, having worked for a family center and dealing w/ families in crisis.... I've seen children left in homes that were not considered safe because there wasn't enough resources for the child to go somewhere else.... but hey... lets overrun the system more because it is easier to see a kid is fat than abused... that'll help.

Twins2007

"THIS is why children deserve better and SHOULD be placed in a home where they will get a better life! "

I doubt it.

Have you ever taken the time to check out what happens to children who are taken away from their homes?

They are either placed in foster care or with foster parents.

In my 10 years+ of working with this field, I can tell you that the foods provided are NOT any better than the average American household.

Why?

Eating healthy costs a lot of money. Some parents, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PARENTS WHO DON'T GIVE A ****, cannot afford buying fresh produce and multi-grains and lean meats and such.

So they buy in bulk. Just like in the system where these children end up.

What needs to happen is to figure out why a two working parent home cannot afford eating healthy in this "rich" country.

Then educate, facilitate and create.

Putting aside genetics and metabolism, families need to re-learn how to eat...By a society which pushed fast foods for years...And is now acting like it never did.

shannieboo

you dont have children huh? No children are not born obese but have you ever thought about the kids who have a hormonal problem and still gain the weight. I dont eat mcdonalds and I am way overweight! My youngest child eats healthy and will not eat fries or mcdonalds, she is about 25 lbs overweight, so does that mean she should be put into foster care?

jennyocox

Parents should be educated in eating healthily so that they are capable of doing all you suggest. I'm pretty sure that most of the people on MFP learned a lot about eating healthily that they would have preferred to learn from their parents rather than in the way we've learned here, through a lot of pain, sweat and tears.

Children shouldn't be Obese, but sometimes on tiny budgets it's also cheaper to feed them that way if you don't know any better.

amymeenieminymo

Let me preface this with saying I cannot stand seeing an overweight (not just talking husky) or obese child. BUT, I wouldn't say this is necessarily the result of a parent who does not love their child enough. Often times it is due to ignorance and/or the parent feeling overwhelmed and not being able to control their child so they give them whatever they want. I agree that this is bad, but I don't think, for the most part, that it comes from not loving their children.

I don't think children should be taken away from their parents if they are obese, that in and of itself could cause even worse results....there are many stories of children being abused or mistreated by foster parents who are basically just taking on foster for the check. Even for a perfectly wonderful foster family, being taken away from your parents is still a very traumatic and unstable life.

I think a better alternative would be some kind of consequence, education for parents who don't understand how to feed their children healthy or some kind of intervention, but I think removal from the home is very extreme.

Lizary125

Obesity can be genetic so because the whole family is overweight they should get taken from there family..... We all work hard to lose weight sometimes it just doesn't come off! I think that this is horrible and I have healthy children at a normal weight.....

elid

because the USA is the ONLY nation in the WORLD right now whose children are dying before their parents because of unhealthy lifestyles TAUGHT to them by said parents.

No, the US isn't the only place in the world with obese children.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stark-warning-on-childhood-obesity-problem-468833.html

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I think this is a really ignorant view of things. If you're going to take children away from their parents because of poor eating habits you might as well just snatch them at the door of the fast food restaurants because some children (like some adults) can eat loads of unhealthy food without any result, and some kids (like some adults) can eat healthy foods all day long and still carry more weight than necessary. The thing is, sometimes it's the parents parents fault that those kids are obese because they didn't teach their kids about nutrition and about how to cook, it could be genetic, it could be hormonal, it could be anything. Do I want kids to be unhealthy? No. Do I think that removing them from the home is the solution? Only if I want them to have long term psychological issues stemming from being seperated from an otherwise loving home and then turn that into some sort of eating disorder . . .

shannieboo

Obesity can be genetic so because the whole family is overweight they should get taken from there family..... We all work hard to lose weight sometimes it just doesn't come off! I think that this is horrible and I have healthy children at a normal weight.....

I agree

Car0lina82

I think taking children away from their parents would hurt more than help because there are no guarantees that the child will be happier/healthier/better being one more of thousands in the system, away from all they know and everyone who loves them.

Besides, taking the children away is the 'band-aid' solution to a much deeper problem: There shouldn't be obese children in the first place, and the only way to guarantee this is truly educating the nation.
If we want to get detailed we might as well also assure that parents are making enough money on less hours of work to guarantee at least one of them will be home to cook for the children, too.
Take it a step further and ban fast food joints. And so on, and so on....
So many things spring to mind like much better solutions other than stripping a child away from those who love him.

The day wholesome, organic foods are cheaper than fast food options because of higher demand (in other words, the day people stop favoring McDonald's with their money), then we will truly see change.

Heather75

Maybe we should just grow all children up on special farms. That way, there is no possible way that the parents can screw them up in any way, and the parents will be able to afford to take fabulous vacations.

shannieboo

I think this is a really ignorant view of things. If you're going to take children away from their parents because of poor eating habits you might as well just snatch them at the door of the fast food restaurants because some children (like some adults) can eat loads of unhealthy food without any result, and some kids (like some adults) can eat healthy foods all day long and still carry more weight than necessary. The thing is, sometimes it's the parents parents fault that those kids are obese because they didn't teach their kids about nutrition and about how to cook, it could be genetic, it could be hormonal, it could be anything. Do I want kids to be unhealthy? No. Do I think that removing them from the home is the solution? Only if I want them to have long term psychological issues stemming from being seperated from an otherwise loving home and then turn that into some sort of eating disorder . . .

I could not agree more, thank you

SunshineKisses_2012

Any of you ever been through the foster system or know people who have been? Before we start taking kids away from their parents and putting them in foster care they should fix the foster system.

How is taking a depressed kid away from their family helping?
Lots of medical conditions/food intolerances cause rapid weight gain, and doctors don't diagnose them correctly (I am an example of this) with my Celiac.

The government ruins enough things, it shouldn't take families apart. Why not blame McDonald's instead of the parents? Or the food industry in general?

Why not start with mandatory meetings/classes for these parents? Why start with ripping apart a family?

^ That. When I see a child who is clearly obese, and a parent who is also obese standing behind them, it breaks my heart, but my first reaction isn't "that kid should be taken away from their parents!!" If anything, the parents and children both/all need to be educated on how to make better food choices and have safe areas to play/exercise in. Ripping a family apart is not the answer. I have seen documentaries on the Texas foster care system and it's not pretty. I'd guess that there aren't many more that are any better.

Hot button issue. I guess if you don't have a child or don't have a child that is obese, it's difficult to understand the situation to make sure that the judgments you are bringing down on people would ultimately make it better for the child.

pilotgirl2007

While I agree that parents need to be making healthy choices for their child and teaching them to eat healthy maybe there should be a step in between that requires some sort of class that teaches parents how to tell the difference. I really do think that some people are just SOO ignorant that they really think that some of these foods are ok. Also interesting to note like 500lbs2marathon I was overweight as a child (I am not sure if I was in the obese category... but I was certainly overweight) and my sister was in a normal weight range. My paren'ts did not prepare two meals, one for each of us so one would assume that if I were overweight she would be as well, but we all know that is not the case because of your metabolism and all that entails etc.

I agree that it needs to be looked at closely but it is not as black and white as you would think. There are a lot of variables that need to be considered. I think we need to start with education to break the cycle. If the parents are part of that ignorant group and truely have no idea about nutrition and exercise then their kids will be taught the same ignorance and it will continue on. I never understood why health and nutrition are not part of school studies at an early age. Teach kids to look at the meals that they are being served at school and teach them to determine if it is healthy etc. (although don't get me started on school meals!!) I just think there is a lot we can do for our children before we take them away from loving parents who are probably only repeating the same pattern that their parents taught them. That's just my two cents on the subject

HollyMcCaw

I've also thought about this alot. What about the kids who eat junk all the time but for whatever reason are NOT obese? Are their parents any better then the parents who have obese children. My daughter is 4 1/2 years old and an ideal body weight. I bought her a Happy Meal over the weekend. Does that make me better than the parents at McDonalds with their overweight kids?

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Maybe we should just grow all children up on special farms. That way, there is no possible way that the parents can screw them up in any way, and the parents will be able to afford to take fabulous vacations.

Okay, but only if they get to eat healthy food like in all other institutions in the US like public schools. You know, things like pizza, chicken nuggets, tatter tots, fries, pb&j on white bread, and don't forget the canned fruits and veggies!

Schwiggity

You're right. I would've been better off being bounced from foster home to foster home. *Former obese kid if you didn't get it from that sentence*