should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

Should foodstamps be used to buy crap? NO! There should be an approved list of foods one is allowed to purchase with them. When you use ublic funds to take care of your personal needs, you lose the right to choose without oversight. Are healthy foods too costly? For sure. I am not disputing that you can get rice and beans, apples, Wheat bread etc. for not a lot of money but do you want to eat rice beans everyday? Absolutely not.

i grew up VERY poor and we DID eat rice and beans everyday and guess what, we were okay with that because we were poor. we went to school with homemade wheat bread sandwiches with a piece of fruit everyday. how did we get the fruit? we went to food banks, we asked our church, we asked our neighbors, we mowed peoples lawns in trade of groceries, etc. EBT (food stamps) DEFINITELY needs regulation. WIC will only let you get healthy foods. That is the way EBT should be. I know people that use EBT to buy crap all the time, it disgusts me. I AM PAYING TO FEED YOU! And in return you use MY money to buy doritos??? ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME??? I don't even buy that crap for myself. WHY would i give you my money to buy that!? if i'm paying to feed you then you better be doing your damn best to do the best for you and your family with MY money.

This article is insane! I think parents are to blame but only to an extent. Some overindulge their children but not all parents of obese kids deserve all the blame. My youngest sister is very obese and my parents put forth a great effort trying to help her. When she was younger they would try to keep healthy foods in the house and serve balanced meals. The fact of the matter is that some kids find their own ways of stuffing themselves. My sister didn't always eat unhealthy, but she ate huge portions. She would sneak into the kitchen and fix full meals for herself. She taught herself how to cook at a very young age. My mom tried everything from doctors/nutritionists, putting her on a swim team, making her play outside. It really didn't matter, she just kept getting bigger. She would get the food from friends or at school. Unless a parent can monitor their child 100% of the time it would be nearly impossible for them to have complete control over what a child eats. Sometimes I get so mad because it seems that everyone always wants to put full blame on parents. I agree some are to blame and let their kids eat all the junk/convenience food and set a bad personal example but that is not always the case. What happened to personal accountability? You can't expect a really young child to have that but at a certain age kids can develop a little self control. As much as I love oreos, I didn't gorge on them as a child because I didn't want to get fat. Some kids (like my sister) just don't care enough to step away from the food. What are parents supposed to do when they have a child like that? Sit around and let everyone else comment on their bad parenting? That's total rubbish.

i have a younger sister who is extremely overweight and she ate the same stuff my other sisters and i did. she gained weight because she was lazy, she OVERATE, she hid food, etc. She also had my dad as an example though. He is extremely overweight. Do i think obese kids should be taken from their homes? no...do i think they need to be fined? yes! do i think they should have to face some consequences if they can't PROVE that they are actively trying to HELP their overweight child? yes! This also means that they can show that they have replaced all junk food with healthy food, that they go on walks with their child every day after dinner, and that they eliminate drinks that aren't water. Now, if after ALL of that the kid is not losing weight or keeps gaining, then i think the fines should stop and that the parent should SERIOUSLY consider taking their kid to Over eaters annonymous or some sort of class to figure out what the problem is. diet and exercise ALWAYS help. even with those that have conditions. gaining weight every year for the rest of your life is NOT OKAY! and these kids are given life expectancies of 30 years? that's horrible! that means i would outlive my child!

I feel this way if it is illegal to kill your kids by starving them, then the same repercussions should apply if you are killing your children by allowing them to be obese.

Thank you!

I think any parent who neglects their child this much does not deserve to be one in the first place. Not only are they setting their child up for bullying at school and a miserable relationship with food but they are also in affect killing them. It may sound harsh and I'm sure some people will have a rant about it but that is the reality of it.

Bottom line....it starts with the parents.

Someone isn't going to get fat eating sweets during a one hour period in school.

And kids can have all the abandonment issues they want...at least they'll be alive and have a chance to deal with them rather than taking up land in a cemetray too son.

kids get bullied all the time even when they're NOT overweight. i was SUPER skinny but i wore glasses and wore clothes from the thrift store and i was teasing mercilessly. parents should really do their best to keep their kids healthy. it really does help. and if they're healthy and fit, guess what, they can either out run the bullies or stand up for themselves without the fear of getting beat up because they can handle themselves.

And i totally agree. It's the parents responsibility to instill healthy eating and exercise habits. I have a friend who is vegan and her kids are vegan. Her son is 5 and her daughter is 3. If they are ANYWHERE outside of their home and with someone that doesn't know they're vegan, the ALWAYS ask if the food they're being served is vegan. If it isn't, they don't eat it. Period. So why can't ALL parents teach their kids to LIKE healthy food and if they go to a party and see "junk food" or go to school or WHEREVER and choose to NOT eat the crap food? My kids LOVE veggies and fruits. There are days where the ONLY thing we eat are veggies, fruits, and nuts. My daughter just turned 3 and at her birthday party we had cake. Neither of my kids ate it. They have a different palate than kids who eat that kind of stuff all the time. They LIKE the healthy food and the sugary, overprocessed stuff tastes like crap to them.

There would need to be a CPS investigation into why the child is obese, as with any other negelect or abuse case.

yes! 100%! obesity is USUALLY caused from lack of parental supervision (aka neglect). I understand we are all busy and we all need to do things for ourselves. I also know that if we focus for the first few years of our childrens lives and TEACH them how to live properly, then we won't have to work so damn hard later on to keep our kids healthy and safe. Yes, there are the exceptions. Some kids, for reasons i do not understand, are just really overweight for either health reasons or some extreme genetics. however, i can almost guarantee that if you sent one of those kids to my house, they would lose weight even though they have some sort of "excuse" for being fat. my little sister comes and lives with me every summer and always loses 15 to 20lbs. my parents feed her healthy but they also let her have seconds and sometimes thirds. so when she stays with me she gets one serving and everything is measured out.

My son and my nephew grew up together in the same house. My twin and I lived together and raised our boys together until I married & moved across the country. My nephew got the fat gene from my family, my son was lucky enough to skip the gene. I kept my home full of healthy foods. My son, love healthy food and had embraced physical fitness. My nephew eats what ever junk he can get his hands on in school. He ballooned as a kid. As he got older, it became even harder to stop him from eating wrong. As a teen he would run around with friends, hanging out at fast food restaurants.

so this i believe could have been prevented if at a young at your twin had really focused on always feeding him healthy. ALL THE TIME! honestly, if you know that obesity runs in your family or that food addiction or any other addiction runs in your family then you should do whatever you can to teach your child to NOT follow in those foot steps. Obesity is HUGE in my family but i REFUSE to let me kids follow in my family's path. Alcoholism is also really big in my family. My parents went out of their way to get my sisters and i involved in sports and really taught us how important our education was and that alcohol would interfere with our success in life. BECAUSE of that I am not an alcoholic and I know how to enjoy alcohol in moderation. I don't have to worry about getting addicted.

I feel that giving your child the tools to become obese is like giving your child the tools to become alcoholics or drug addicts. food addiction is very real. if CPS found out that your child was drinking alcohol underage or doing drugs at any age, they would remove your child immediately! so if you know your child has a problem and you don't take EXTREME measures to ensure that he/she has EVERY tool in their possession to eat healthy and exercise then you too are the problem and are feeding your childs addiction.

Why is it the government's job? They are not the watchdogs. How about family and friends first off. If by government you mean educators and counselors at the schools getting more involved the sure. I understand that the kid is going to die, that they are way too fat. Its a shame, but it didn't happen overnight, and nobody else steps in till now? that is a joke. Obviously the child's Dr. saw the problem, a family member... the world is to PC and someone should have slapped some sense into the parents, doesn't have to be uncle sam. it can be anyone. It could be you, would you say something to a parent with a fat kid, have you? will you? if not, then stop preaching on here that it is the governments job because you are just as bad as the parents for letting the kids get that way. Stand up people and don't be scared to let someone know when they need help.

i agree. people need to stop worrying about stepping on other people's toes. think about it. if someone came to you and said your child was showing signs of autism or some sort of learning disability, wouldn't you be grateful and get them tested immediately??? i would. That way you can get your child the help they need immediately to help them with whatever it is they have. so if someone comes up to you and tells you your child is showing signs of food addicition or that your child is really overweight, wouldn't you be grateful and get them help or help them yourself immediately?

Just to set the record straight, if everyone had actually read the article, the children they are referring to are not "fat", they are morbidly obese and their lives are in danger because they are so overweight. The article states that these children are at risk of dying by the age of 30! There is NO excuse for that! It has nothing to do with food companies or WIC! How expensive is a can of beans and a bag of rice? A jar of peanut butter and a loaf of wheat bread? An apple and a gallon of milk? The issue is LAZINESS. It's easier to go through the McDonald's drive-thru than prepare a balanced home cooked meal. These habits are passed down from parent to child and the children continue to eat that way once they are capable of making their own choices. And I don't believe it is right to automatically force the parents to give up custody, but I do believe that the government needs to interfere by forcing the parents as well as the children (depending on their age) to attend nutrition & wellness classes as well as working with a social worker so they can understand how to live a healthy life style. Yes, education is the answer but these families will not learn if no one makes them. Parents need to be aware of their childrens' individual needs; what is okay for one child may not be for another, and that is where the child abuse comes in. It is not right to expose children to environments that are unhealthy and unsafe, and if parents are allowing their children to eat themselves to death, that is abuse.

you took the words right out of my mouth!

Well, I did say above about the cost to the public. I stand by it, not that it has been challenged yet in this forum. I would rather pay my money to public education. Make good eating principles part of the educational system starting in Pre K. Let kids know what is good to eat. And the public is to blame as much as the parents. Look back in time a couple years, you used to be able to tell a friend that his or her kids were getting fat and to get them in gear, We have become so PC now that people are just scared to talk the truth. Well ladies and gentlemen, the truth is staring us in the face right now. if your neighbors kid is getting fat, tell the neighbor. If they don't listen, talk to the kid about it. Stop looking for someone else to solve all the problems, stand up and make a change. One person really can make a difference. If you don't like the choices at your childs school for lunches, send them with one. get other parents involved. Children are our future and there should be enough time in your day to make sure your kids have everything they need to succeed in life. Bottom line, get off your lazy *kitten* and go outside with your kids and stop making excuses. By the way, if I offended you in this message, maybe you're the lazy one that needs to go for walks with your kids.

well said my friend! if you REALLY care about your child, you will take the time to pack them lunches, go on walks with them in the morning or after school. if you REALLY love your child you will SACRIFICE whatever you need to sacrifice to make sure they have the best options for food or sports or whatever. if that means you sacrifice you nights going on walks with them and cooking healthy meals that take time or staying up late and making them healthy lunches for the next day, then so be it! It's so worth it! YOUR KIDS ARE WORTH YOUR TIME!!!

I don't think food companies are to blame at all. Nobody forces somebody to buy a frozen pizza rather than the makings of a healthy soup. People can afford to eat healthier, they just don't feel like cooking or would rather eat things that 'taste better.' Rolled oats are cheaper than Coco Puffs, salad is cheaper than Cheetos, a bag of potatoes costs about the same as a large fry from McDonalds, dry beans are super healthy and cost pennies per serving. Blaming food companies and being low income is a cop out.

yup. i eat the same meals EVERYDAY because they're healthy, well balanced and awesome! do i get bored??? yes. but do i go out and get a cheeseburger? no. i go to the grocery store and buy something healthy as the alternate of whatever i am craving and then i go right back in to eating my healthy, boring, well balanced meals.

I don't think the government should be paying for food at all. You don't work - you don't eat. I personally LOATHE the welfare system - I've seen it abused far too many times. Want to take care of national debt? Start eliminating government assistance programs and make people work for their food like they used to.

I understand that there are legitimate cases of people actually needing help, and I'm perfectly fine with those people receiving help - it's the ones that abuse the system that I can't stand. If you were able to weed out all the abusers, maybe then the people that actually NEED help could get it.

i am poor. i live in silicon valley and my husband works and i stay at home with our two kids. we have a VERY small income. we live within our means. money is always tight. i use WIC for our kids and i am SO grateful for that. if it wasn't for WIC, then we would be living 100% on beans and rice. my husband and i used to make A LOT of money and it was an insane adjustment when i decided to become a stay at home mom. i made 3 times as much as my husband but our kids were more important than all the money in the world. Because of our financial situation, we have become so much more healthier than we were. Gas is expensive so I walk or run every where with the kids in a stroller. we go to the grocery store every few days to buy fresh, healthy food and we use coupons or we buy store brand or we buy on sale. We have a very specific budget that we can never go above because we have no wiggle room. we walk everywhere even if that means i'm walking or running 8 miles that day. if they have a doctor appointment, i walk the 5 miles there and the 5 miles back. yes, i know that because i'm a stay at home mom i have the "time" but i'm also in school full time, i also am a full time mom, housekeeper, wife, financial guru, and supermom! i do arts and crafts with my kids every day. i make them 3 balanced meals a day. i play with them. i teach them the alphabet and numbers in multiple languages. i also cook, clean, exercise, study, play, teach, do exams, grocery shop, etc. on a daily basis. People say they don't have time. What they're REALLY saying is that they don't want to MAKE the time. Guess what people, i only have 24 hours in my day too! We all have the same hours in a day and we can all make time for our kids.

I know i probably stepped on a lot of people's toes but I have been overweight for about 7 years now and i have changed my entire world for my kids because i don't want them to have the same struggles i had. i want them to want to be healthy. i want them to LOVE healthy food. i want them to WANT to exercise. Do it for your kids people. Stop being selfish.