Britains Heaviest Teen

flossicle
flossicle Posts: 90
edited September 24 in Motivation and Support
If ever there was a girl who needs support and a tonne of help, then this is her..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8337679/Britains-fattest-teenager-is-40-stone-at-17.html

She's been to a weight loss camp in the US and lost 15 stone, and in the year since she came home she's put back on that 15 and 7 more besides, she's 17 and weighs over 40 stone (that's 500+ lbs)

Social services need to intervene and get her the help she needs, she's still a child?

Replies

  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    that's sad. I think i read about her in my PEOPLE magazine but i could be wrong.
    How much is 40stone in pounds?
  • MsImperfect0
    MsImperfect0 Posts: 127 Member
    i know its not "nice" but thats disturbing that a parent would let their child get that big! that just disgusts me to the extreme!
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
    that's sad. I think i read about her in my PEOPLE magazine but i could be wrong.
    How much is 40stone in pounds?

    560lbs
  • EbonyGemstoneHealth
    EbonyGemstoneHealth Posts: 249 Member
    WOW,I can't say anymore I'm so shocked,yeah poor her,she was on her way and then her mother didn't help....
  • Caper88
    Caper88 Posts: 418 Member
    that's sad. I think i read about her in my PEOPLE magazine but i could be wrong.
    How much is 40stone in pounds?

    According to google conversion 560lbs
  • chicabean420
    chicabean420 Posts: 173 Member
    That is SO SAD!! I'm angry at her mother for not "having the time" to prepare a healthy meal! Why would you send your poor daughter to a fat camp on another continent if you're not willing to make the changes at home?! Poor girl!
  • fatgirlslim47
    fatgirlslim47 Posts: 33
    That poor poor girl, I agree social services should step in, what are both her parents doing? how could her mother not have time to prepare healthy meals? unless she does not know how too in which case mum and daughter need lots and lots of help
  • Altiv
    Altiv Posts: 174 Member
    Damn, I watched a program about her a couple of weeks ago when she was at that US boot camp, I was sure she could overcome her overweight and be healthy :/ she seemed so motivated and even went to the supermarket with her mom to but healthy food, I really wish someone could help her so she can start losing weight again :(

    For those who didn't watch that show, her mother had a cardiac condition, so I can understand she had trouble supporting her, her mom had problems walking and her dad died when she was a child (Georgia said that was the beginning of her weight issues)
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    Honestly, I don't think it's fair to blame her mother. Yes, her mother didn't help her make healthy choices and prepared unhealthy meals/options, BUT, this girl is 17 years old which is old enough to make decisions for herself. My parents don't have weight issues in the least. When i go to their house, they eat meals that I just can't seem to fit into my daily intake. I BRING MY OWN food, or i create something for myself there that I CAN have, OR i have what they are having but a much SMALLER portion. I'm not saying my parents don't support me, they definitely do, BUT not everyone around you, or in your life is going to diet along with you. You need to take that upon yourself to make healthier choices & options. Yes it's difficult, have we all given in at times? Yes, but you have to WANT to change in order for it to work. This girl obviously didn't learn what she needed, and wasn't given the right tools to maintain the lifestyle at home. If you're depending on someone else to bring you your food, prepare your healthy food & pay for your daily activity. You're not going to get very far in life. I (like her) don't have money for a gym. I workout at home. I do whatever I can. I think by blaming it on her mother & on "no money" she's making excuses for herself, therefore, she'll never change.
  • jlsAhava
    jlsAhava Posts: 411 Member
    i know its not "nice" but thats disturbing that a parent would let their child get that big! that just disgusts me to the extreme!

    Before I read the article, I was going to disagree and say we need to cut the parents some slack. But after reading that the mom "didn't have time" to prepare healthy meals - I have to agree. At 17, Georgia should be capable of preparing her own meals, but at the same time, if your child is in such a fragile state - you can't surround them with their biggest enemy. That's just irresponsible.
    I have a feeling this young woman would be much better off if she moves out of her parents home!

    Also, this girl should be able to get a free membership and trainer at a local gym. The potential for good publicity is huge, and everyone would win in the end.
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    Honestly, I don't think it's fair to blame her mother. Yes, her mother didn't help her make healthy choices and prepared unhealthy meals/options, BUT, this girl is 17 years old which is old enough to make decisions for herself. My parents don't have weight issues in the least. When i go to their house, they eat meals that I just can't seem to fit into my daily intake. I BRING MY OWN food, or i create something for myself there that I CAN have, OR i have what they are having but a much SMALLER portion. I'm not saying my parents don't support me, they definitely do, BUT not everyone around you, or in your life is going to diet along with you. You need to take that upon yourself to make healthier choices & options. Yes it's difficult, have we all given in at times? Yes, but you have to WANT to change in order for it to work. This girl obviously didn't learn what she needed, and wasn't given the right tools to maintain the lifestyle at home. If you're depending on someone else to bring you your food, prepare your healthy food & pay for your daily activity. You're not going to get very far in life. I (like her) don't have money for a gym. I workout at home. I do whatever I can. I think by blaming it on her mother & on "no money" she's making excuses for herself, therefore, she'll never change.
    When I was 17, I was still living at home and relying on the food supply that my parents provided. I was lucky that my parents did not eat a lot of garbage nor allowed us to eat much of it. This girl is at the mercy of her provider(s) until she is able to live more independently and purchase her own food. If her parents have nothing but garbage in the refrigerator and cupboards, she doesn't have much to work with. Couple that with an obvious food addiction, and you've got parents who borderline don't give a damn, in my opinion.

    I actually do blame her mother in this case. She did nothing to keep a good thing going when her daughter came back. She expected that camp to "fix" her daughter and then send her back. If she is the sole provider of food to her teenage daughter, the responsibility does lie with her. It is possible that the daughter could plead with her to buy the healthy things she wants/needs, and Mom just is too stubborn or lazy to do it for some reason. Hypothetically, if the daughter has no income of her own, what is she supposed to do?

    I agree, she could at least eat smaller portions of her meals. But to me, that is almost ("almost" because we can't live without food while we can live without beer) like sitting down at the bar with a recovering alcoholic after they've finished a 12-step program and expecting them to just drink less beer.

    I will say this, though - sometimes these "rehabilitation centers," or in her case, "camps," foster more of a disciplinary environment than a learning environment. I saw an HBO documentary called "Thin" about women living at a rehab clinic for having severe eating disorders. Their lifestyle was so incredibly regimented and prison-like, that almost all of them went back to their old ways after leaving. People have different personalities and thinking patterns, and you can't use a one-size-fits-all approach with everybody. Some can thrive and blossom in environments like that, but many are just going through the motions simply to avoid "getting into trouble."
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
    I'm not quite sure I believe everything that is being said. It sounds like an awful lot of excuses, none of which place any blame on herself for her weight. She talks about her depression, about her mum, about gym facilities not being available but doesn't make any mention of any choices she has made for herself that weren't so great. I do feel bad for her if she truly has a mother who sat her on the couch and force fed her disgusting food until she gained so much weight then seems to want to sabotage her after she lost some of it - of course that would be an awful situation.

    Unfortunately, people rarely succeed with weight management until they take at least some ownership of the behaviours that are leading to their weight gain.
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
    Honestly, I don't think it's fair to blame her mother. Yes, her mother didn't help her make healthy choices and prepared unhealthy meals/options, BUT, this girl is 17 years old which is old enough to make decisions for herself. My parents don't have weight issues in the least. When i go to their house, they eat meals that I just can't seem to fit into my daily intake. I BRING MY OWN food, or i create something for myself there that I CAN have, OR i have what they are having but a much SMALLER portion. I'm not saying my parents don't support me, they definitely do, BUT not everyone around you, or in your life is going to diet along with you. You need to take that upon yourself to make healthier choices & options. Yes it's difficult, have we all given in at times? Yes, but you have to WANT to change in order for it to work. This girl obviously didn't learn what she needed, and wasn't given the right tools to maintain the lifestyle at home. If you're depending on someone else to bring you your food, prepare your healthy food & pay for your daily activity. You're not going to get very far in life. I (like her) don't have money for a gym. I workout at home. I do whatever I can. I think by blaming it on her mother & on "no money" she's making excuses for herself, therefore, she'll never change.

    I think you are spot on. Shes 17, not working and capable of making her own healthy foods.

    Her mother has to accept some of the blame but not all of it and certainly very little of it since returning from boot camp. I saw her interview a year ago and she was planning to sue the NHS for not funding her return to boot camp. She also said healthy eating cost more...doesnt cost more than fish and chips!

    As she is 17 then social services should intervene but in what way, take her from her mother? Fund another boot camp and just where would you draw the line. Get her the help this time but is she screws up again she's on her own?

    Very sad

    When I was 17, I was still living at home and relying on the food supply that my parents provided. I was lucky that my parents did not eat a lot of garbage nor allowed us to eat much of it. This girl is at the mercy of her provider(s) until she is able to live more independently and purchase her own food. If her parents have nothing but garbage in the refrigerator and cupboards, she doesn't have much to work with. Couple that with an obvious food addiction, and you've got parents who borderline don't give a damn, in my opinion.


    In the uk at 17 years old you are either in college, working or on benefits. In the interview I saw she was on benefits...she will be getting enough money to be buying and prepare her own food.
  • ninx123
    ninx123 Posts: 18
    I feel really bad for this girl. I think that BOTH her and the mother are to blame. You don't just "become" morbidly obese overnight. This girl is only 17 years old, obviously she's been making bad choices her whole life. Her mother should have taught her HOW to make better choices, and obviously given her healthier meals. I know a lot of schools don't offer kids healthy choices in the cafeteria, and maybe when given the choice she over-ate at lunch, and that is on her.

    I had a friend who was morbidly obese in grade 9. She weighed double what most of us did. When I visited her home her mother let her eat whatever she wanted, whenever. They had a "candy drawer" with TONS of chocolate in it. She ate so much. Who is to blame? Both of them. Her mother should have taught her better, and she should KNOW better.
  • flossicle
    flossicle Posts: 90
    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3423206/Georgia-Davis-is-Britains-first-quarter-of-a-ton-teen-topping-40st-at-17.html this is the front page of one of our biggest selling newspapers from today.. she's gonna eat herself into an early grave unless she gets some help.. why have her Dr's not suggested a gastric band for radical quick weight loss to save her life is another question i'm asking?
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I'm sure children must have been taken into care for less obvious neglect in the past. From a medical perspective, surely she should be able to get more sensible help from the NHS than an expensive boot camp abroad... It just doesn't make sense!

    Couldn't she get a phone on the NHS so she can join MFP? :wink:
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