Childhood Obesity= CHILD ABUSE

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  • meltoine
    meltoine Posts: 46 Member
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    You might be able to make an argument for neglect, but I too think that the leap to abuse is untenable.

    I am responsible for what my children eat. I am responsible for bringing healthy food into our home, preparing it, teaching them how to prepare it, shop for it, budget for it, etc. This is one of my duties as a parent. If I'm not doing it, I see it as neglectful, especially because I know better.

    My mom was never taught about nutrition or how to prepare healthy foods. Recently I was telling her about MFP and how I decide what to eat everyday and she asked me how I know what foods have protein v. fat v. carbs. No wonder I had no idea what a healthy meal looked like until it went to college.
  • SconnieCat
    SconnieCat Posts: 770 Member
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  • DeltaZero
    DeltaZero Posts: 1,197 Member
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  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
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    Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

    Mmmhmm. It should really be a last resort for when a child is truly in danger. More often than not a child is better off with his or her own family.
  • grubb1019
    grubb1019 Posts: 371 Member
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    An obese child is not always the result of a negligent parent. My son is obese because he is on a medication that makes him gain weight. I make sure he eats healthy, I try to control his portions (but he is almost 11 and sometimes helps himself to seconds when I am not looking), and he plays sports (and on days that he isn't active I make him go with me and walk). He has lost 8 lbs since January, but it is a constant struggle for us. So don't judge someone just by looking at their child. I am a teacher and there are many more serious situations in homes than a child being overweight. I know of many many children that don't get fed, bathed, or cared for at home because their parents are constantly drugged out, that is more of a concern to me than a parent letting a kid overeat.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

    QFT!!! Also IN to hear someone without kids tell me how to raise mine... Also BINGO!
  • jtrack3d
    jtrack3d Posts: 91
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    Yea, attacking the parents isn't the solution.

    Our problem is that crap food is the food that keeps the longest and is prepackaged for convenience. Convenience usually wins over healthiest. With two parent working families it gets harder and harder to provide fresh fruit and vegetables or even to prepare meals from scratch rather than a drive through at McD or BK.

    Our society is JUST as much to blame because we let capitalism do this to us as much as anything else.

    So, I don't buy this one. Why aren't sodas, candies, cakes and other obvious luxury junk foods taxed like cigarettes as a simple example.

    There are solutions, but blaming parents isn't it.
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    STOP ATTACKING THE OP!
  • kethry70
    kethry70 Posts: 404 Member
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    I disagree with you on this, but that's just me. I don't think someone should have their kid taken away and put into foster care just because they're fat.

    Yup. Things like how fat or skinny a child is just isn't as simple and black and white as it sounds... And ignorance of nutrition and excerise is not a good reason to make an already overwhelmed system that can't get children out in worse situation than "my parents feeds me too much mcdonald's because they don't know any better" even more so.

    Does it suck? Sure... But most parents are ignorant of what to feed their kids or they just make up excuses... but it does not equal child abuse in my opinion.

    QFT
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    I really don't think labeling these parents as child abusers is going to help.

    This. The children "in the system" really aren't any thinner than those who are not. Labeling a parent as a child abuser and taking away their child because their child is overweight isn't okay. Call them lazy if you want, but there's a lot more to it than just not caring. There's also something to say for the culture of your family.

    I have a friend from Singapore who has struggled with eating disorders her whole life because her family constantly says she's getting fat, even when she was under 100 pounds. I got fat because I looked up to my dad and copied his eating patterns without realizing it. For my family, the amount I was eating wasn't abnormal because my dad is a pretty active guy. He just knew nothing about calories and nutrition (when I first started, he was surprised I was counting the calories in the ribs he made. It's all protein—that doesn't have calories. This was said in complete seriousness). My getting fat wasn't child abuse, just a difference in body type and activity from my parents.
  • Escloflowne
    Escloflowne Posts: 2,038 Member
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    I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.
  • DeltaZero
    DeltaZero Posts: 1,197 Member
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  • kethry70
    kethry70 Posts: 404 Member
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    http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

    read/watch these articles/reports

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdGYitGIIps

    Answer one question for me: Do you have children?

    Nope. But she is young and an idealist and apparently blames her parents for her weight.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    STOP ATTACKING THE OP!

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • amyparrish9
    amyparrish9 Posts: 23
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    "No, your face does." David Spade, Tommy Boy
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Ultimately we, the overweight, are responsible for what we put in our mouth. As children; however, this gets complicated. I would agree that childhood obesity is primarily the parent's fault. This lack of responsibility on the part of the parents lead to a lack of responsibility in the child. With that said, I do not agree that this constitutes child abuse. That is a major leap.

    EDIT: Iron_Feline made a great point. It is a case by case decision. Some situations could definitely be child abuse.

    Agreed
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    STOP ATTACKING THE OP!
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  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    Yes, childhood obesity is running rampant but I don't believe it should be labeled as "child abuse". I really hate that term because everyone throws it around these days for multitudes of situations that are not close to abuse. Abuse is something that someone does to another with full knowledge of their actions and are trying to purposefully inflict pain or injury on a regular basis.

    Most of the time a child is obese because the parent is obese and do not have the knowledge of how to eat properly. What needs to happen is EDUCATION. I don't have kids so I don't know the curiculum in schools but if there are not mandatory nutritional classes throughout a childs education there needs to be. One class in junior high doesn't cut it either. It needs to be on a regular basis throughout a childs school life. This is the only way that this cycle of bad eating habits is going to end.
  • DeltaZero
    DeltaZero Posts: 1,197 Member
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    STOP ATTACKING THE OP!
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