should morbidly obese children be taken from parents?

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  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Seems to me that this is an extreme response to a situation with very little information about whether or not there was any sort of compulsory education for the parents before hand. By taking a child away from their parents you teach the child and parent fear, by making resources available to teach people a healthier lifestyle you're giving them what they need to change the situation. If the government is going to pay money and waste resources by putting a child into the system, then there's money that can be diverted into education.
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
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    I think the issue of poverty is really what needs to be addressed first. Parents living below the poverty line often can't afford to purchase good quality food for their children or themselves. Some people will argue that if you do the proper research you can find healthy, cheap food but the fact of the matter is if you are raising 3 kids and working at least 1 full time job (perhaps more) you just don't have time for that.
  • d_Mode
    d_Mode Posts: 880 Member
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    I think you should make a new thread about pull ups.:happy:

    hahaha... don't get him started!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I have to go to work but I'm going to put this here preemptively, because there's no other way this thread could go:

    1474222_o_zps732426dd.gif
  • mruntidy
    mruntidy Posts: 1,015 Member
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    Only if the parents are under threat from being eaten...
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    I think you should make a new thread about pull ups.:happy:

    hahaha... don't get him started!
    it is my ultimate goal

    guess what? I can do TWO push ups in a row now.

    I will do a pull up even it takes me another year.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I have to go to work but I'm going to put this here preemptively, because there's no other way this thread could go:

    1474222_o_zps732426dd.gif

    I wish everyone would stop condemning this thread before it gets started. So far, everyone is in agreement. Though, I am certain there will always be that one troll that rocks the boat. But, maybe, hopefully, rational people can see that for what its worth and keep it civil...

    Hopefully...
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,122 Member
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    There is more to life than how much a person weighs. That is particularly true in terms of parents and children. I think that removing a child from a parent's care should only happen in situations where intentional harm is being done. My guess is that is not the case when children are morbidly obese. What is happening may have many roots, but I am guessing a big part of it is parents who have no concepts of how to prepare healthy meals, or cook at all for that matter. They are not doing it to intentionally harm their child, but out of ignorance they are doing their best to care for that child. In light of that, it seems a much more positive approach would be to implement programs that would help them understand what is happening, and give them the ability to care for their child in a way that allows for healthy home cooked meals. This is but one factor that I can think of, but I know from my experience with people both rich and poor, that many people have no idea how to prepare meals from scratch, so TV dinners, fast food, and the like are what they make because it is what they know how to make. Rather than assuming the state can somehow care for children better, when it is only one aspect of their life, healthy eating, that is the issue, would be wrong. Deal with the root of the problem, not the symptom.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    I think it's very sad to take children away from their families...but if their lives are at risk, I think it's a last resort.

    The problem is, they probably won't return the children to the families at any point.
  • LarryDUk
    LarryDUk Posts: 279 Member
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    I think the entire family should be taken to the middle of the village and stoned to teach everyone else the same lesson!
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Not necessarily
    But maybe some counseling for all
    I never want to see kids taken from their families unless the situation can't be helped

    ^ this.... and knowing a bit about child protection laws in the UK, I really doubt that in any case morbid obesity was the *only* reason a child was taken into care. Maybe it was part of the reason The Daily Mirror isn't the most reliable source of information.

    removing a child from loving parents is extremely traumatic and likely to do more harm than good. Parents who are accidentally harming their kids (e.g. by overfeeding) should be educated. Parents who do nothing even when doctors and social services are telling them that their child is in danger of serious health problems if they don't change the child's diet, and when they're given help and support to be able to make those changes, then clearly there's other things wrong in the parent-child relationship and overfeeding is only a part of it.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    what a horrible thread.:indifferent:


    this is neither fun nor games:angry:

    Yes. But chit chat . . . Maybe not. Probably more mud slinging if this goes as I think it will
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I suspect that the logic behind this is that the parents lack the ability to control their child, and therefore, does not tell them "no" when they ask for food. I imagine these poor kids are now in homes with strangers and put on diets where they are denied food when they ask for it. Sounds harmless enough, but when a child is already thrown into an unfamiliar situation in which they have no idea what the future holds, denying them the solace of comfort food, the kid's mental health only becomes even more damaged. This is just not the way to address the issue.
  • mruntidy
    mruntidy Posts: 1,015 Member
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    I don't agree they should be taken from the parents, after reading the article I also find that no one mentioned the elephant in the room which I would see as lazy parenting.

    It's depressing the amount of people here in the UK I hear say;

    'Fresh produce is too expensive' - no it's not, especially when you aren't spending x amount on Sky TV, cigarettes and alcohol
    'I don't know how to cook' - so learn, this is you and your child we are talking about

    Fresh produce and cooking whole foods and making it a family thing and a learned experience is a far better way of teaching portion control and dietary requirements than the resulting fall out from taking a child from his or her parents.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    No, foster homes and the CPS system are already overloaded here in the US. Also in before the lock.
    This 100%
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I don't agree they should be taken from the parents, after reading the article I also find that no one mentioned the elephant in the room which I would see as lazy parenting.

    It's depressing the amount of people here in the UK I hear say;

    'Fresh produce is too expensive' - no it's not, especially when you aren't spending x amount on Sky TV, cigarettes and alcohol
    'I don't know how to cook' - so learn, this is you and your child we are talking about

    Fresh produce and cooking whole foods and making it a family thing and a learned experience is a far better way of teaching portion control and dietary requirements than the resulting fall out from taking a child from his or her parents.

    I'm confused...

    Are you saying that the kids should be taken away? Or that the system should teach the parents about nutrition?
  • DaWayne360
    DaWayne360 Posts: 261 Member
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    Actually I would like to see it taken a step farther than taking the kids away. Let’s work on prevention rather than a reaction. The majority of morbidly obese kids I see have morbidly obese parents. Some of that could be genetic, but most likely the kids inherited their parents poor eating habits and lack of any ambition to exercise. Ignorance breeds ignorance, if you will.
    To prevent this I would like to see that if you want to have kids you have to qualify. Some kind of “temporary sterilization" is administered at puberty and will be undone once you show you have the means both financially and intellectually to raise children who are healthy, contributing members of society.
    Please vote for me to be your Benevolent Dictator.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    It depends on HOW obese.

    I remember reading a story from a while back (2009?) where a teenager was removed from his mother's care because he already weighed 550 lbs and was continuing to gain. He suffered from sleep apnea and other consequences of his morbid obesity, and had been on CPS's radar for some time, but his weight just kept going up and up.

    He was placed with his aunt instead, and after a while he had weekend visitation with his mother. Over the next couple of years he lost over 250 lbs (which still puts him at grossly overweight), and he was planning on going to college as of the last update. http://www.americanownews.com/story/18098717/550-pound-teen-loses-weight-and-gains-hope-for-future

    I think in this case they made the right decision. I'm sure the boy missed his mother dreadfully, but I'm also sure that he was at serious health risk remaining with her. His mother claimed that she was following the nutritional guidelines she had been given, but he just got food on his own. Quite honestly, though, since he lost so much weight living with someone else instead, I tend to doubt that.

    I would definitely think that it should not be the first or even the second response, but rather the response of last resort.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    No, foster homes and the CPS system are already overloaded here in the US. Also in before the lock.
    This 100%

    they are in the UK too, which is another reason why I highly doubt that any of those kids were taken into care for the sole reason of being morbidly obese. Morbid obesity and concerns for the child's health because of it may have been a factor in those cases, but not the sole cause. The Daily Mirror is in the same league as the Sun and Daily Mail, i.e. sensationalist reporting for attention grabbing headlines and who cares if the facts are not quite right like of journalism.
  • sarainiowa
    sarainiowa Posts: 287 Member
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    Pulling a family apart over obesity is not the answer. Good eating and exercise habits can be taught with some possible counseling or someone working with the family. Education in school is another good way to reach children and families.

    The foster care system is over loaded. Children aren't always placed in the best situation for them. They are placed where there is space. Often children are placed in multiple homes before returning to their families. This doesn't help the kids. Our society is proof the system don't work.

    Obesity is an important issue to address and I'm not suggesting we "turn a blind eye" to it. I am saying the foster care system needs to be for the exploited and abused children whom are in immediate danger. Obesity is dangerous, I get that. However, we all see obesity coming, it all depends when it's addressed. We should all focus on addressing it before it becomes a problem in our children and / or ourselves.

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