Childhood Obesity= CHILD ABUSE

Options
13468922

Replies

  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Options
    hF078B0E5

    Wait a second? I'm to blame for my fat cat? What do you think I do, hold her down and shove kibble in her mouth?

    You know when she got fat? When I took her in, spayed her and forced her into a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Lack of activity kills, but there is no way I could replicate the exercise she got outdoors.

    Extremely simple solution. Feed the cat less food. If its fat, its overeating. As the one providing the food, yes, its absolutely on you.

    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.

    Mine didn't...he did lose weight, however, I kinda feel like he developed an eating disorder for awhile. He would only eat if you were in the kitchen with him. It was weird. Now he has this extra skin hanging off just one of his sides.
  • rowlandsw
    rowlandsw Posts: 1,166 Member
    Options
    This is just the dirty nanny state intruding into the rights and lives of the American people like the UK government has done. They want to control every corner of our lives. My parents did their damnedest to get me to lose weight but you can only do so much. These "doctors" at the cdc are breaking their do no harm oath by aiding this kind of thing just like when they force their wills on smokers, drinkers, or by trying to ban foods or guns.
    The media has parents so afraid of violence that now everyone thinks there's a child molester behind every tree when they're more likely not to be a stranger, that everyone is packing a gun. If American parents are guilty of anything it's being sheep and buying into everything they're told.
  • natalee8
    natalee8 Posts: 34
    Options
    In situations like that something needs to be done, despite what the media says, children are not whisked off to a foster carer the minute a problem arises, there is a lot of supportive intervention first and I think this should be in place for families with obese children.

    I think government should mind their own business. Seriously?? The obese police?

    They should probably take a step back over all kinds of issues regarding children then.

    It's not about "The Obese Police", it's about protecting the health of children, offering families support and education is far from policing them. I don't understand how anyone can fully understand the health risks of being obese, especially for a child and make such a ridiculous comment so I will assume you either don't know or don't care.

    I'm not writing any more on this as nap time is over and the children I look after are about to wake up and have a yoghurt, and you know what? When the little girl asks me for some chocolate this afternoon- I'll say yes, a little piece, she will eat the chocolate and ask for more, I'll say no that's enough, she'll cry a bit- I will ignore her, she'll get over it, just as she would with her parents. Then we'll go and run around the park and you know what else? She probably won't grow up to have obesity related diseases because of all the positive lessons she is learning about eating, health and nutrition now.

    - Schools, and the government have a responsibility as well. I have been re watching this recently and I find it absolutely shocking......

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaIbvmcpSEk

    TTFN
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Options
    I hate the misuse of the word "abuse"

    it's like some people think that there are only two categories "good parenting" and "abuse" - i.e. more of the dichotomous thinking that seems to be so prevalent nowadays

    parenting is on a scale, from excellent, to bad, with abuse at the very end of the bad end of the range. Most people who overfeed their kids are not being abusive, they;'re caring, attentive parents, who are giving their kids too much food, or not giving them enough opportunities to do physical activity. If those parents are going to be categorised as abusive, then what about the parents who don't check if their kids have done their homework, so the kid gets a detention the next day, or gets low grades when they should have got higher grades... is that abuse too? I mean seriously, I know you have to draw the line somewhere, but there's no such thing as a perfect parent (the scale I mentioned at the start of this paragraph starts at excellent) and some parents are better informed, better organised, better at guiding their kids and all that than others... but that doesn't make less good parents abusive.

    To be honest I think it's insulting to people who have lived through child abuse for relatively trivial things to be classed as abuse. And yes I know childhood obesity itself is not a trivial issue, but overfeeding kids and failing to give them enough opportunities to do physical activity are not the result of parents not giving a damn about their kids or deliberately harming their kids. If anything, these mistakes come from love (too much food, well you feed kids because you don't want them to be hungry and you want to give them treats..... lack of opportunity to exercise, a lot of parents have exaggerated ideas about dangers to kids to they keep them indoors where it's safe, plus their kids want all this technology that keeps them on their backside staring at a screen, and they love their kids and want them to have nice things). They're actually quite common errors, and also bear in mind this is the inevitable result of modern society where we can get all the things we want delivered to our door and we don't actually have to do any physical activity any more... childhood obesity is part of a much wider social problem, in that we've become a society of lazy fat-arses. Even lots of people who don't look fat have too high a body fat percentage, so that comment about our society doesn't just apply to people who look obese - it applies to everyone who's sedentary no matter what actual size they are. Childhood obesity is because of this.

    We live in a society where it takes effort to not be fat, and the sooner people accept that, the sooner they're going to start making that effort. And with kids the emphasis IMO should be on encouraging physical activity rather than trying to control what they eat, which can easily cause kids to have a bad relationship with food that makes obesity even harder to fight. Of course parents should provide healthy meals and limit high calorie snacks, but IMO the main emphasis needs to be on encouraging physical activity. And not just to stay thin because being sedentary is unhealthy for a whole lot of different reasons, not just increasing the risk of becoming obese.

    You are always the voice of balance and reason in the forums and I love you for it. I agree with everything, except " it takes effort to not be fat, and the sooner people accept that, the sooner they're going to start making that effort." My experience is that the sooner people accept that there is no magic pill, the sooner they start making excuses about how they don't have the time to make an effort.

    It can be hard. I have the luxury of having a chest freezer, so I cook in bulk and freeze meals every Sunday. That's the only way I can manage not to eat out every day with two preschoolers.
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    Options

    Answer one question for me: Do you have children?

    That is irrelevant to the point OP is trying to make.

    "You don't have kids, so your opinion is invalid" is a tired and flawed argument.

    No, it's entirely relevant.

    Children have mind's of their own. Raising them is not nearly as easy as non-parents sometimes think it is. Especially when they are about 21 and lack life experience.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Options
    hF078B0E5

    Wait a second? I'm to blame for my fat cat? What do you think I do, hold her down and shove kibble in her mouth?

    You know when she got fat? When I took her in, spayed her and forced her into a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Lack of activity kills, but there is no way I could replicate the exercise she got outdoors.

    Extremely simple solution. Feed the cat less food. If its fat, its overeating. As the one providing the food, yes, its absolutely on you.

    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.

    Mine didn't...he did lose weight, however, I kinda feel like he developed an eating disorder for awhile. He would only eat if you were in the kitchen with him. It was weird. Now he has this extra skin hanging off just one of his sides.

    At least he didn't get addicted to the MFP forums.
  • amwbox
    amwbox Posts: 576 Member
    Options
    hF078B0E5

    Wait a second? I'm to blame for my fat cat? What do you think I do, hold her down and shove kibble in her mouth?

    You know when she got fat? When I took her in, spayed her and forced her into a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Lack of activity kills, but there is no way I could replicate the exercise she got outdoors.

    Extremely simple solution. Feed the cat less food. If its fat, its overeating. As the one providing the food, yes, its absolutely on you.

    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.

    The laws of thermodynamics apply to cats as well. Could be that the cat was off eating the neighbors cats food? Cats aren't...containable in my experience.

    But admittedly no, haven't had this issue with a cat. Worked like a charm with a dog though. Dog was getting a bit fat, so we started weighing his food out and feeing him slightly less until we found a maintenance level. Doggy is much healthier now.
  • davelfc49
    davelfc49 Posts: 29 Member
    Options
    Your child is your responsibility. It's no good blaming consoles, super size and sedentary lifestyles. The health of your child is something you are responsible for.

    Society today looks for excuses, looks to blame everyone else but the people that are to blame. If you have obese children (and there's not a medical factor at play) then it's YOUR fault as the parent. Simple.
  • kirili3
    kirili3 Posts: 244 Member
    Options
    If parents are feeding their kids fried food at every meal, then yes, social services should step in. There are some messed up parents out there. No, their kids should not be taken away from them, they should just be thoroughly educated about nutrition. If a kid is morbidly obese or whatever, teachers should speak to their parents and social services should check to see what the problem is. Without using any force, obviously, since it's unlikely the parents are doing it deliberately.

    I grew up fat because of a tendency to comfort eat. I don't blame anyone for that, of course. I overate fresh and delicious homecooked meals. However, that experience is not everyone's experience. Some parents definitely mess up, and the ones who are feeding their kids crap at every meal may be messing up in more ways than one. Social services should try to intervene. Not to take their child, but to teach them nutrition and try to get them healthier. Some people honestly don't know.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Options
    I can't believe that anyone would advocate taking a child out of their home instead of something crazy like nutrition and health education. A lot of people don't eat well because they either don't know any better, don't have access to the right kind of food or they are lazy.

    Being a lazy parent doesn't make you an abusive parent.

    There's a link between obesity and lower income levels. There's a link between obesity and the education levels of the parents in the family. These things being factors is often overlooked when people get all high and mighty about fat kids. But the links are important and point to education being at least a step in the right direction.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    Options
    OP has started two "blame the parents" threads and one "mean people" thread in under 12 hours. She seems genuine, if misguided, but at this point I'm starting to smell troll.

    Also, in!
    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.
    I would have done the same if my parents tried to put me on a diet.
    All of it.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
    Options
    obesity-3.jpg

    Childhood obesity is a serious disease afflicting many children, especially in the United States. According to the CDC, more than one in three American children were profiled as overweight or obese .......that's one of every three kids! In the past thirty years, childhood obesity has quadrupled in adolescents and doubled in children in America. Obesity is a serious illness, just as serious as every other illness if not worse because it causes so many other ailments. If parents are responsible enough to take their children to the doctor when they have a fever or indicate illness, parents should also be responsible and accountable for monitoring their children's health in other ways, specifically weight and dietwise if they see or the doctor sees that their health is in jeopardy due to weight problems. Children should be taught how to eat in moderation and eat balanced meals with appropriate portions. I am really upset by the LAZINESS of parents who do not look out for their children's health. The only excuse may be the inability to afford healthy foods.......which then becomes a fault of the system. Still, even without health foods, moderation of unhealthy foods and encouragement of physical activity could help prevent any large excess of weight. Why aren't people doing more to help their own children?

    If the child is still at the age where they rely on the parents for nutritional advice, meal preparation, and is basically dependent then I really don't see any excuse why the parents shouldn't be to blame. Especially for sick small children who do not know any better (less so for older teens because they are more in control of their own eating behaviors).

    hF078B0E5

    How many kids do you have exactly?
  • amwbox
    amwbox Posts: 576 Member
    Options


    Children have mind's of their own. Raising them is not nearly as easy as non-parents sometimes think it is. Especially when they are about 21 and lack life experience.

    If they're 21 and still eating your food...better to think of them as annoying roommates than someone to be "raised". That ship has already sailed.
  • jmath911
    jmath911 Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    QUOTE:

    I think we should start licensing pregnancy, so only the people who can afford children and who are physically fit can reproduce.


    And you shouldn't have pets if you can't afford them either. I see homeless people in my town that have "will work for food" signs AND a dog on a leash. I always wonder "why did you think you should bring a dog into this situation?"

    I know this is way far off topic, sorry.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Options
    hF078B0E5

    Wait a second? I'm to blame for my fat cat? What do you think I do, hold her down and shove kibble in her mouth?

    You know when she got fat? When I took her in, spayed her and forced her into a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Lack of activity kills, but there is no way I could replicate the exercise she got outdoors.

    Extremely simple solution. Feed the cat less food. If its fat, its overeating. As the one providing the food, yes, its absolutely on you.

    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.

    The laws of thermodynamics apply to cats as well. Could be that the cat was off eating the neighbors cats food? Cats aren't...containable in my experience.

    But admittedly no, haven't had this issue with a cat. Worked like a charm with a dog though. Dog was getting a bit fat, so we started weighing his food out and feeing him slightly less until we found a maintenance level. Doggy is much healthier now.

    My cat is an indoor cat. If I let her outside, she'd be getting the exercise she needs. Do you think she's photosynthesizing when she lays in the sun?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Options
    OP has started two "blame the parents" threads and one "mean people" thread in under 12 hours. She seems genuine, if misguided, but at this point I'm starting to smell troll.

    Also, in!
    Have you ever tried that with a cat? Do you know what happens? The cat sleeps more. You can feed them the most ridiculously small amounts of food and they will be damned if they lose any weight. They will eat the tomatoes on the counters first. They will poop in your bed.
    I would have done the same if my parents tried to put me on a diet.
    All of it.

    I'm starting to think the same thing about the troll...because here it is 5 pages and she has yet to come back. It's like let me just drop this bomb and slowly walk away.
  • amwbox
    amwbox Posts: 576 Member
    Options


    How many kids do you have exactly?

    Irrelevant. And a fallacious non-argument.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Options


    Children have mind's of their own. Raising them is not nearly as easy as non-parents sometimes think it is. Especially when they are about 21 and lack life experience.

    If they're 21 and still eating your food...better to think of them as annoying roommates than someone to be "raised". That ship has already sailed.

    Definitely a non-parent.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Options
    In situations like that something needs to be done, despite what the media says, children are not whisked off to a foster carer the minute a problem arises, there is a lot of supportive intervention first and I think this should be in place for families with obese children.

    I think government should mind their own business. Seriously?? The obese police?

    They should probably take a step back over all kinds of issues regarding children then.

    It's not about "The Obese Police", it's about protecting the health of children, offering families support and education is far from policing them. I don't understand how anyone can fully understand the health risks of being obese, especially for a child and make such a ridiculous comment so I will assume you either don't know or don't care.

    I'm not writing any more on this as nap time is over and the children I look after are about to wake up and have a yoghurt, and you know what? When the little girl asks me for some chocolate this afternoon- I'll say yes, a little piece, she will eat the chocolate and ask for more, I'll say no that's enough, she'll cry a bit- I will ignore her, she'll get over it, just as she would with her parents. Then we'll go and run around the park and you know what else? She probably won't grow up to have obesity related diseases because of all the positive lessons she is learning about eating, health and nutrition now.

    yeah-ok.gif
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    Options
    Anyone recommending that kids be put into foster care doesn't know the first thing about foster care.

    +1.

    And now I will bite my tongue.
This discussion has been closed.