Child Abuse?

Prahasaurus

I'm at a resort in the Middle East. Very touristy, with lots of children. Few Americans, lots of Brits, Dutch, Germans, people from the region itself, Indians. I would call it upscale, so I'd expect an above average educated clientele here.

One clear theme here is obesity, especially among the children. And yes, most of the overweight kids tend to have overweight parents, but not always. I am talking about children under 10 years old, whose diet is more or less completely regulated by their parents. And they are obese, in some cases significantly obese.

At what point is this child abuse? We know of the myriad of diseases that are linked to obesity. The average life expectancy of the obese is shorter. Quality of life is worse. Health care costs rise significantly, and we all pay for this. Their parents are encouraging terrible habits, perhaps even addictions, that may haunt these kids throughout their lives. How is this different from parents allowing their 10-year old to smoke, perhaps even encouraging it?

One example among many: British sisters (I assume, they look similar) on vacation, seem to be in their mid 20's. Both overweight. Their mother is here with them, also overweight (although not as severely). They both have one child with them, probably aged 7 and 4, boys. The 7-year old boy is obese, the 4-year old is significantly obese. I noticed them because the lifeguard had to ask them multiple times not to eat ice cream in the swimming pool. They ignored the lifeguard, and went for seconds. Later they were at the same pool side restaurant as I. The kids were eating cheeseburgers and a massive bowl of french fries. Adult portions. The mothers were having the same.

OK, it's vacation, nothing wrong with hamburgers or pizza or ice cream. But clearly these kids are eating like this non-stop. They are too young to understand what they are doing to their bodies, but not their mothers. Again, I'm not talking about slightly overweight, both of these kids were obese, the younger one significantly. At 4 years old...

Why isn't this child abuse?

--P