Taking obese children from their parents???

I have to say it may be that in certain areas of the country 'healthy' foods are more expensive, but I I live in Phoenix and it took me only 4 months or so after moving here to learn how to shop here. I had to relearn the coupon process for these grocery stores, and find the 'cheap' produce areas (standing farm market at superstision springs, pro-ranch's and food city and SPROUTS!!!!) The middle two are hispanic oriented stores, I don't understsand a WORD going on there but who cares, their produce is hella cheap. Every other week I drive the 25 miles to these places and stock up, since they're not close to me. Trust me the savings is more than worth the gas mileage...we're talking .20 orange peppers, .30 red peppers, .10 cucumbers, .50 strawberries....

Now that I know how to shop here, if I WANTED to buy junk, it would cost me more. I have been a couponer for almost 5 years now, and the things that will really kill your budget, once you know how to shop, are soda and junk food.

Again, that's just here. (and Ohio, and CT....other places I've lived)

As for SHOULD the government do this? I identify as liberatarian and generally believe the gov't. should but the hell out. From personal experience of the CPS NOT doing their job, leading to an actually physically abused child, I have little faith in their systems.

Is this the same as a mother not giving her skitzo child the meds s/he needs? At a certain point, maybe. I'm not a doctor, I think we'd need some doctors opinions on this, and to be sure they are from both the physical and psychological spectrum (loss of a mother is emotional distress that may outweigh removal from the home), and from the full spectrum of the political arena as well, to get a balanced view point. The fact of the matter is most states don't have the money to do this RIGHT, so I think they'll just screw it up overall.

P.S. Working two jobs to get out of the ghetto...so going to fast food??? Subway kids is pretty much the same as a Happy Meal, but from the sounds of this the kids eating more than 'a happy meal'.

P.P.S. If I were an insurance company seeing this idiocy I'd go to all the doctors and allow them to disseminate the information that for obese children they will offer some incentive for your child once they go down to overweight, and then again once they are normal...since this is just killing the ins companies (who now have to cover kids until they start getting gray hair practically) as well. I wouldn't have the government FORCE ins. companies to do this, the government FORCING people to do anything is the problem...but a smart ins. company may think of this. In fact, many companies are now offering financial incentives for their employees to lose weight to assist in their insurance costs, as many insurance costs for employers are based upon actual use of the services overall. (Especially HRA's)

The cost of feeding a 300 lb person junk will be more than feeding a 85 lb kid just about anything...my kids eats big...sometimes I get the leanest meat..sometimes not..but when they wipe out the meatloaf...it is gone....from then on they have healthy snacks like fruit...ie grapes...apples...not organic but still fruit....I bet my kids would eat more meatloaf if I made a 3 lb loaf instaed of a 2 lb loaf but who needs that much...no one....food bills are less expensive if you eat appropriate portions...blah blah blah...I have enough kids (4)..and a budget too and I can do decent at aldi with appropriate serving sides...they won't starve if they only eat what I eat each day......outside of medical issues causing obesity in a kid...then there are a million ..maybe a sport...xcuses but no good reason for a 300 lb kid...say no...get one happy meal instead of 3....water or milk instead of pop..an occassional walk

STOP THE NANNY STATE!!!!!! Our country is taking away too many rights under the guise of 'protection' for our citizens and our children. Children need their families to raise them, not a state institution! Don't even get me started!!!!

But it's for the CHILDREN!!!!! :indifferent:

It will grow the government. That is the ONLY reason why the politicians would give a {bleep} about this issue. I do NOT want the government taking a loved child out of their home. :explode:

My only thought when I heard this this morning on the radio, was where do they intend to put these children? In the already clogged and overflowing foster care systems? Does physical health supersede mental health? As another poster mentioned, there are SO many layers to this …it’s not simply about whose responsibility it is to keep a child at a healthy weight.

Exactly! This is where my head always goes. Where do we put these kids? How do we put them somewhere they'll thrive and not waste away in an underfunded, understaffed social services system? And how on earth do we fund it? Foster care is expensive!

And yet, I do find myself very angry when I see obese children struggling and gasping to keep up with their peers. I get super upset when I'm in the store and I see a serioiusly overweight child hanging onto the side of a cart stuffed with crappy junk food. My heart breaks for those kids because I WAS one of those kids. And to break the stereotype, my mother was a registered nurse and my father an Army officer. It wasn't a lack of money OR a lack of education. It was just stupidity and laziness--convenience parenting, really.

So I'm torn on this one. Maybe we need to go back to the days when nutrition/home ec-type classes were taught in schools. Maybe we do need a "sin tax" on fast food and crappy, processed, pre-made meals. I don't know, I don't have the answers. All I know is that we need to find the answers fast, because obesity rates (and that's ME) are rising steadily and frighteningly, and it seems I see more and more overweight kids every day, including in my own family.

For what it's worth, when I saw my boy getting heavier, I made a change. More veggies, more fruits, smaller servings, more exercise. While he's still 130 lbs, he's gone from 4'10" to 5'2" at that weight, maintaining nicely and looking healthier every day. His doctor is thrilled, and all it took was parenting. If that sounds harsh, I apologize--I've just heard too many people say, "There's nothing I can do about it." Really? If you're the one who controls the grocery purchases, you most certainly can do something about it.

Edited to say that so many people don't know how to shop for healthy foods, they don't know how to do it on a budget, and they don't really recognize the difference between pre-packaged and homemade meals. There is an education gap here when it comes to buying foods, and it's not just the poor who are caught up in it. WIC often offers "food shopping" classes, but I think MOST Americans could benefit. We've wandered so far from the farm and from the production of our foods that, in general, we don't really get the difference between healthy and not. I know that's one of the reasons I'm here--I'm learning.

Kris

I am like a lot of people replying to this post. It can really go both ways. I am on state food assistance and do get quite a bit actually. For a family of 5, we receive about $650 a month. I buy as healthy as I can and it does just barely get us by the entire month. I try to plan meals ahead of time and stick to my list. I use coupons when I can as well. My kids are actually on average for their weight for the most part. My 3 year old had problems putting on weight and is still tiny for her age. 3 1/2 years old and 28 pounds.

I do have one problem though. My 8 year old daughter has always been really picky about food. Ever since baby food was given to her. She absolutely refuses to eat fruits and vegetables. Try as I might to sneak it into meals she just isn't having it. Which makes eating SUPER healthy an issue in our household. I have to make foods that everyone will eat. Any suggestions?? Has anyone else dealt with this situation?

Slippery slope indeed. I was an excellent mother. Took my vacation days and helped at school for picture day and every field trip. Had my kids all in sports all year. Karate, baseball, football, cheer, gymnastics....always moving. Cooked dinner every night. No soda. No junk really...never was a ho ho in the house.

Now I did make food as a reward for all good behaviour, that had to do with my hunger as a child but that is a different story.

2 of my childen and myself were all at a point of obesity. Borderline, but over that line of BMI line to mean obese.

Take them away? Put them where exactly?

All of my kids, and myself are now in a healthy weight range.

I did a social research project when I was an undergrad student in social work. We had to got to grocery stores in different socioeconomic neighborhoods around town and compare prices and various types of foods. The stores that were in the lowest income areas lacked the most availability of high quality food and the stores in the highest socioeconomic areas had the highest availability of nutritious foods. It was pretty eye opening. The "poor" stores didn't have as much fresh produce.....and had way more processed and high fat/calorie foods. And as I now work in child welfare, taking kids away from their parents and putting them into an already overburdened system is not the answer. In my area, I come out of foster homes smelling like pork chops, bacon, fried chicken and all sorts of artery clogging foods. Our foster families would not necessarily be a much better example for healthy eating!

This is so true--we covered this in more than one social work class back in college. Another, related problem? Prices are often higher in low-income areas! Studies have found that grocery stores know that poorer folks aren't as likely to have either the know-how or the resources to shop around and visit various places, so they stick them with higher prices. Richer folks, on the other hand, can and will comparison shop between stores and will go where the deals and the selection are best. So, counterintuitive though it seems, the poorer the neighborhood, the higher the prices are likely to be. Now this isn't 100% across the board, but it's the trend.

Sad, huh?

Kris