Should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

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joehempel
joehempel Posts: 1,761 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
An interesting article. This isn't about disorders in which kids get obese by medical conditions, it's more about the parents not controlling what their children eat, and thus threatening the life of the child by poor choices.

For me, there should be some sort of intervention before taking the kids away. But none-the-less, and interesting article.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/12/20110712obese-kids-custody-cases.html
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  • NikkisNewStart
    NikkisNewStart Posts: 1,100 Member
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    I think it should be treated like any other child abuse case.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    yes
  • Apryl546
    Apryl546 Posts: 909 Member
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    That is definitely considered child abuse, but I do agree that some action should be taken before removing the children from the family.
    If the family can make the changes to make life for their child more healthy (given that's the only problem), then they should definitly have a chance.
  • mbrinzer
    mbrinzer Posts: 3
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    i dont know if i agree with that but only because thats the same thing as saying that my child should be taken off of me becaus ehe is underweight. he has been underweight since he was 6 months old and there is nothing else that i can do! i literally sit and feed every meal to my 4 yr old to try and make sure he is eating enough. i also use carnation instant breakfast added to his milk after every meal. he is just not going to get big...............
  • joehempel
    joehempel Posts: 1,761 Member
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    Well I think being underweight, and it being out of your control...I couldn't gain weight when I was young...and I ate everything! And feeding your kids fast food 3 meals a day are two different things.

    I think some sort of education of the parents and also therapy should happen first...then after say 6mo to a year, there should be some sizable difference.

    If nothing happens then, I think it would be gross negligence.
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
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    IDK...I come from a household where my mom controlled how much and what I ate but I somehow managed to sneak and hide food from her. It's not her fault that I was fat/obese as she wasn't feeding me crazy amounts of food that caused me to gain. We didn't eat extremely healthily either (she was on welfare when I was growing up) so the foods we did eat were cheap and quick but our portions were child size.

    Every household is different. Some parents are very strict which causes kids to sneak and hide food. Some parents are enablers and feed, feed, feed their kids till they burst.

    I don't think I should have been taken away from my mother, she did what she could with what she had.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    Taking away is extreme IMO. Intervention is more appropriate. Parents do need to be responsible though since kids aren't buying the food. They are only eating what's available to them.
  • Lollyvoddy
    Lollyvoddy Posts: 194 Member
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    I'm not sure on that one, I think like anything, you'd have to take it case by case. I was so sad to see the statistic 'Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese.' That is double the amount of children we have in our entire country! Heart breaking.
  • Choirgirl37
    Choirgirl37 Posts: 255
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    A former colleague once invited me to a church event with her family. I was seated at a table with her 2 yr. old daughter and the rest of the family. I was speechless when the child's plate of food arrived and was placed in front of her by her mother.

    The 2 yr. old was served: 3 fried whole chicken wings, about 1 cup of mac & cheese and nearly 3 cups of spagetti! NO KIDDING!! I was in total shock because I didn't know a child this age was capable of eating so much and I was horrified that the mother would dare to put such unhealthy portions on her child's plate.

    The child ate half of one wing and a couple spoons of mac and cheese, then she proceeded to move away from the dinner table.

    At that moment, you would have thought a fire drill sounded because several members of the family haulted her, even sent for the mother to return from the kitchen and aide with making sure the child remained at the table to finish what was on her plate. The mother came to her child, sat next to her and insisted that she eat all her food.

    After awhile, I couldn't watch anymore; I had to leave.

    This 2 yr. old weighed so much, I was sure I could not lift her even though I weighed 170 lbs.

    Yes indeed! That is child abuse.
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
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    Taking away is extreme IMO. Intervention is more appropriate. Parents do need to be responsible though since kids aren't buying the food. They are only eating what's available to them.

    Agreed. It's obvious (look at the members on this site! there's lots of us that just don't know how to be healthy before coming here) there are a lot of adults that were taught how to eat by their parents and really don't know HOW to eat properly or healthily.
  • pnwgirl1963
    pnwgirl1963 Posts: 14 Member
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    What about kids who play too much video games? Or kids who are thin who drink energy drinks and eat too much candy? Or kids who bully others. Where do we draw the line? I agree morbid obesity in kids is dangerous. But taking a child out of the family home and breaking up a family I am not so sure. I guess if mom and dad were smoking crack we would remove minor children. Very complicated
  • daryls
    daryls Posts: 260
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    What about if parents don't feed their children enough? That is definitely reportable to DCFS (here in Ca).
  • AI1108
    AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
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    I don't agree with taking children away from parents just because they're obese. We don't take children away from teen moms that can't provide for their children, why should we take them away because they are overfeeding their child? A little education can go a long way though. Growing up I had pizza every Tuesday night and lived practically across the street from McDonalds. I must have had a fast metabolism and the fact that I was in a bunch of sports in high school must have helped because 140 lbs was the heaviest I've ever gotten (I was 130 in high school), but I could see that adversely affecting other children if that sorta food was all they ever ate. When I wasn't hungry anymore I would just tell my mother that I wasn't hungry. I don't think it's always in the parents control. I know families where parents stock their pantries with sugary snacks to keep their kids out of their hair and one child will be a normal size and the other will be obese. Maybe teaching kids about health education early on and if PE class at public schools wasn't such a joke sometimes, it could help this too.
  • Makers72
    Makers72 Posts: 65
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    I think te government coming in and telling ANYONE how they should raise THEIR children should be a no-no unless the parents are physically beating them or not feeding them.


    Our government already has too much power, giving them more power will only result in the giving and giving of more of our freedoms. Pretty soon we wont be able to buy soda, sugar, or go to mcdonalds more than twice a week.

    Then we will have to eat only what the government will allow. If you pay attention to current events you can see the chain of events that is already happening. I for one can controll how much soda i drink and how much fast food i eat. Dont punish us all on the account of others.
  • LeelaLosing
    LeelaLosing Posts: 237 Member
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    It seems that there should be mandatory parenting classes pre- and post-birth because what would seem common sense to me apparently isn't to a lot of people.

    There seems to be alot of ignorance and selfishness and mental issues among parents.

    And I agree that it seems more appropriate to provide some intervention before children are taken away (which I think is the case in some instances depending...), in the end the child and family suffers if anything inappropriate, unhealthy or damaging occurs. Why wait until a child is affected to start correction, why not provide mandatory child-rearing classes covering nutrition, behavior, hygiene, appropriate discipline, stress, etc. and the penalties and consequences if they do not adhere to proper guidelines?

    It would take some figuring out how and where to fit it in and who would pay for it, If we had a national health plan it would seem to fit right in.....
  • k2d4p
    k2d4p Posts: 441 Member
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    It truly hurts my heart to see obese children. I think that parents should be given a warning and a very specific time limit for said warning and if nothing changes, then yes, take them.
  • k2d4p
    k2d4p Posts: 441 Member
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    I think te government coming in and telling ANYONE how they should raise THEIR children should be a no-no unless the parents are physically beating them or not feeding them.


    Our government already has too much power, giving them more power will only result in the giving and giving of more of our freedoms. Pretty soon we wont be able to buy soda, sugar, or go to mcdonalds more than twice a week.

    Then we will have to eat only what the government will allow. If you pay attention to current events you can see the chain of events that is already happening. I for one can controll how much soda i drink and how much fast food i eat. Dont punish us all on the account of others.

    In the description in the original post, it is the parents fault the kids are obese and is in my opinion, definitely physical abuse.
  • ivyjbres
    ivyjbres Posts: 612 Member
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    I think that parent's should first have the opportunity do get assistance that would really help the child.

    My son is 4 and doesn't talk. When he was 2.5 he started speech therapy at no cost to us. At 3, he started PPCD at no cost to us. He improves, just very slowly... But my point is, we saw a problem, and were given an avenue to address that problem, even though there's no way we could afford it if we had been asked to pay for it.

    I think the same should apply in obesity cases. These families clearly either don't know what they're doing wrong, or as one of the mothers pointed out, can't afford healthy food. Maybe making a weight loss clinic available to them with nutritionists, or a WIC/foodstamp sort of program where the food provided is healthy. But CPS showing up on someone's doorstep and saying, "Your kids too fat, we're taking them." doesn't address the real problem. It may address the one fat kid, but we all know that fat isn't just a medical condition, its usually a symptom of something else. And if you aren't addressing that, you're not going to make a significant long term difference.
  • joehempel
    joehempel Posts: 1,761 Member
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    Why wait until a child is affected to start correction, why not provide mandatory child-rearing classes covering nutrition, behavior, hygiene, appropriate discipline, stress, etc. and the penalties and consequences if they do not adhere to proper guidelines?

    If I remember correctly, there were classes that my wife and I had to take about caring for a child, and they were mandatory...it was about the baby food and what certain cries could me etc. Nothing about penalties though...that should be a part of it to. Scared straight!!

    But that was a few years ago, and I'm lucky to remember what I was told a few hours ago LOL.
  • Keleb_DaWhiz
    Keleb_DaWhiz Posts: 55
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    It kind of depends on the situtation.....

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