Seriously?? Obesity and Child abuse questionable....

Iwillshyne
Iwillshyne Posts: 245
edited October 3 in Chit-Chat
Hey guys. I have a question... Should parents be arrested and lose custody of their kids because the kid(s) are over-weight/obese?

There was a story of a single woman who was arrested and lost custody of her 13 yr old son who was 400 (or more) pounds. The kid's school reported it to the authorities as physical child abuse/neglect. There are criminal chrgs pending against the mother and the kid was placed in foster care--he's lost 250 pounds so far, which is great to hear but was any of this madness neccessary?

Just curious to hear your opinion....
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Replies

  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Why did they wait until he weighed 400 lbs to get him some help? Does it really help a kid to take him away from his family? Depression can make it harder to keep weight off long term.
  • bry_all01
    bry_all01 Posts: 3,100 Member
    Yes, I think it was child abuse/neglect and the arrest was justified. Who would do that to their child? That is the equivalent of starving a child, in my opinion. She does not deserve to have him and I am glad he is getting down to a healthy weight. Poor baby.
  • mcdonl
    mcdonl Posts: 342 Member
    In a world that is a tough as ours, and kids are abused in so many other horrible ways I cannot see taking a child out of a home just because they are ignorant on good nutrition and exercise. The kid may sneak food, I know the school has a part in the food they serve. Plenty of blame to go around but not enough to break up a family... IMO
  • SpaceMarkus
    SpaceMarkus Posts: 651
    I read about the push for this on twitter over the summer. Arrested, I don't think so. That won't help anyone. Educated, most definitely.

    I work with so many people trying to turn them onto a healthy lifestyle. Most times the parents are just ignorant and that leads to obesity. I mean, a freaking Happy Meal with just a burger and fries has almost 500 calories! Now what parent really sits to think about that. It sure doesn't seem that much from what you get. And don't get me started on the Lunchables and popsicles and fruit juices. They market themselves as being great for kids but are just loaded with artificial crap that our bodies can't process.

    If they can spend money to arrest parents, they should be able to invest money on actually educating our society.
  • mfiggs
    mfiggs Posts: 155 Member
    I do not think it was necessary! If that is the case I would have been taken from my parents. My parents love me and it was not their fault I was over weight. They should be taking away the children out there that are in abusive homes or homes where their parents are drug addicts and purposfully neglect and abuse them, not a child because he is overweight...give me a break!
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    Yes, I think it was child abuse/neglect and the arrest was justified. Who would do that to their child? That is the equivalent of starving a child, in my opinion. She does not deserve to have him and I am glad he is getting down to a healthy weight. Poor baby.
    agreed, and I don't care who has a problem with it .
  • markee22
    markee22 Posts: 9
    I think it would be a good idea to put the child in a weight loss clinic. Depression from being away from your parents is better than the depression a child will have from the repeated verbal and physical abuse in school..
  • Ashley121205
    Ashley121205 Posts: 131 Member
    I don't think it is justifiable to take the child away but I think pediatricians and maybe even PE teachers at school to to speak up and voice concerns more with the parents. My girls have never been overweight despite me being overweight. But I notice a lot of improvement in their physical activity since I have become active. They try to do workout videos with me :) I don't know why a lot of parents seem to overlook the fact that their child is obese though. Instead of all these parents pushing their children in strollers or wagons make them WALK !!! It will not hurt a child to walk.
  • lawtechie
    lawtechie Posts: 708 Member
    It shouldn't have been necessary had the mom been feeding the child properly. It's child abuse to UNDERnourish a child, and the same should apply for overfeeding. It clearly was overfeeding since he lost 150+ lbs while in others care.

    Hopefully they gave her information on nutrition and that she has her child back, both happy and healthy.

    What's the back story on this family though? I did a quick Google search but couldn't find an article relating to what you mention.
  • bry_all01
    bry_all01 Posts: 3,100 Member
    I read about the push for this on twitter over the summer. Arrested, I don't think so. That won't help anyone. Educated, most definitely.

    I work with so many people trying to turn them onto a healthy lifestyle. Most times the parents are just ignorant and that leads to obesity. I mean, a freaking Happy Meal with just a burger and fries has almost 500 calories! Now what parent really sits to think about that. It sure doesn't seem that much from what you get. And don't get me started on the Lunchables and popsicles and fruit juices. They market themselves as being great for kids but are just loaded with artificial crap that our bodies can't process.

    If they can spend money to arrest parents, they should be able to invest money on actually educating our society.


    Ok, I can somewhat agree that education should have been part of the punishment, while she was in jail.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    I have no problem with this. It's a shame it got this far...
  • hm_day
    hm_day Posts: 857 Member
    I think it depends on the situation. Some kids just don't understand that they need to eat healthy no matter what the parents say. If a parent keeps feeding and feeding and feeding a child with no regard as to what they could possibly be doing to the child, then yes, I would say that could be constituted as abuse IF they are educated and know what will happen. If they're NOT educated, then I think counseling would be more in order than an arrest. If the parent is trying to help the child and the child sneaks food, etc. then the child needs to be educated and given some help. Like I said, it all depends on the situation.
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    and part of it depends...
    was she trying to help the child, did she have a history of doctors tests and appointments for him?

    if not gross neglect.
  • 6Janelle13
    6Janelle13 Posts: 353 Member
    the 400 lbs is an extreme but on our over taxed system it takes imminent threat to life to get a child removed from home. while it seems drastic that child at that age should have been no where near that weight. He or she was morbidly obese and as a child you are not doing that to yourself. someone is buying and supplying you with the food, lack of direction and I am sure that more things were found once investigators started looking.
  • spaztastic13
    spaztastic13 Posts: 229
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!
  • mfiggs
    mfiggs Posts: 155 Member
    Yes, I think it was child abuse/neglect and the arrest was justified. Who would do that to their child? That is the equivalent of starving a child, in my opinion. She does not deserve to have him and I am glad he is getting down to a healthy weight. Poor baby.

    Really, that is just ridiculous. Just because her child is overweight doesn't mean she needs to be arrested. That is dumb! Plain and simple! I was an overweight child and I don't believe arrest is the solution and breaking up the family isn't either! Educate the parent and child! All I can say is WOW!
  • susanofscottsdale
    susanofscottsdale Posts: 114
    I do not think that we know enough to say. It could be abuse/neglect, or it could be something else. I am glad that the "system" stepped in.
  • joehempel
    joehempel Posts: 1,543 Member
    If a kid can be taken away for being mal-nourished, they can be taken away for being...well lets face it, if you are 13 years old and 400lbs and DO NOT have a medical condition....you ARE mal-nourished.

    Don't give me this BS about oh the nothing is solved by taking the kid away from the parents....bull ****. Let them say that when they are live and healthy in 15 years.
  • dez_yaoichan
    dez_yaoichan Posts: 454
    i think when it gets that bad then yes, the child needs to be taken away while the parents learn how to feed the child, but unless it's a health risk (not just being over weight) the state should have no say in the matter.
  • mfiggs
    mfiggs Posts: 155 Member
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!

    What if the parent doesn't know how to lead a healthy life and isn't educated about nutrition. I have been overweight most my life until I became educated on what to do to get healthy and stay healthy. Punish the parent, really?
  • rockylucas
    rockylucas Posts: 343 Member
    I worked in the field of child protection as a front line worker and a supervisor for over 5 years, and I saw this on many occasions, each case is so complex, so to give an answer about whether the practice itself is right or wrong is impossible.. HOWEVER...

    If the child was placed in foster care, that means that social workers intervened far in advance. The mother was educated about what she needed to do. She was provided all of the resources necessary to help her child. She obviously did not follow through, and therefore the court system, which would have included the recommendations of medical professionals, deemed it necessary to remove the child from her care for the sake of his health and well-being.

    Obviously, in THIS case it was the correct decision. The child has lost 250 lbs. Being taken from his mother, who obviously was unable or unwilling to appropriately care for him, may have literally saved his life.

    The mother may have severe emotional and/or other issues of her own which rendered her incapable of assisting her child, so there is no reason to place judgment on her, however. That is why the social service system in in place.
  • bry_all01
    bry_all01 Posts: 3,100 Member
    Yes, I think it was child abuse/neglect and the arrest was justified. Who would do that to their child? That is the equivalent of starving a child, in my opinion. She does not deserve to have him and I am glad he is getting down to a healthy weight. Poor baby.

    Really, that is just ridiculous. Just because her child is overweight doesn't mean she needs to be arrested. That is dumb! Plain and simple! I was an overweight child and I don't believe arrest is the solution and breaking up the family isn't either! Educate the parent and child! All I can say is WOW!

    You see it how you like, and I will see it how I like. That IS what they did, so obviously someone agreed. I just do not like to see children put in harms way, and I feel that was harming the poor baby, personally. I did not ask you or anyone else to agree with me, but you didn't need to say what I said was dumb, either. We can agree to disagree. It's really not going to hurt my feelings.
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!

    What if the parent doesn't know how to lead a healthy life and isn't educated about nutrition. I have been overweight most my life until I became educated on what to do to get healthy and stay healthy. Punish the parent, really?

    YES
    it's a parents job to know enough about nutrition to keep their child healthy. it's negligence pure and simple. You cannot use ignorance as an excuse.
  • joehempel
    joehempel Posts: 1,543 Member
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!

    What if the parent doesn't know how to lead a healthy life and isn't educated about nutrition. I have been overweight most my life until I became educated on what to do to get healthy and stay healthy. Punish the parent, really?

    Punish the kid for the ignorance of the parents???? HELL YES PUNISH THE PARENTS!! Probably should have been smart enough to not have kids in the first place.
  • ldydestiny
    ldydestiny Posts: 5
    I'm really on the fence on this one. On one hand I do believe it should be considered child abuse/neglect. They can't eat the bad foods if those foods aren't in the house! However, I'm also not one to just to the conclusion of removing the child from the house and charging the parents. A lot if it is more about a lack of knowledge about nutrition. Parents aren't setting out to overfeed their children and a lot of people just don't understand how much all that junk affects them and their children. You often hear obese ppl saying "but I hardly eat anything so I just don't understand why I'm so big".. well that may be true and a lot of obese ppl ARE malnourished, but that's often because the foods they do eat are garbage. I would be inclined to say that it would be a far more economical and successful option to bring people into the home to teach the parents how to eat, what to buy, and what portion sizes to use for their children and themselves. How much does it cost our social system to take a child out of the house and raise them via foster care (cuz we know not all of these kids will have other family members to take them) in comparison to having a nutritionist or someone in that field to go into the home and teach the parents. Give the parents a chance to fix the problem they created before outright taking their children away.
  • bry_all01
    bry_all01 Posts: 3,100 Member
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!

    What if the parent doesn't know how to lead a healthy life and isn't educated about nutrition. I have been overweight most my life until I became educated on what to do to get healthy and stay healthy. Punish the parent, really?

    YES
    it's a parents job to know enough about nutrition to keep their child healthy. it's negligence pure and simple. You cannot use ignorance as an excuse.


    I think I love you
  • LeeKetty1176
    LeeKetty1176 Posts: 881 Member
    hard subject and interested to see the views of others..........

    My penny for what it is worth, would be that there is no one size fits all (no pun intended) to every situation.

    In this case, the child has been taken in to care, which is sad of course, but we also need to consider the parenting skills of the mother and father in general. Their social and economic "standing", I think we all know its a dam site easier and cheaper to buy non healthy foods and there is that possibility that this was all they could afford.

    I think im saying that every situation is going to be very different, and each should be treated as such with the best interests of child AND mum and dad at heart.
  • prettyfitchick
    prettyfitchick Posts: 502 Member
    I belive it is abuse in young kids like elementary age becuase they are not being given the proper guidelines of what to eat I know a 10 year girl who is more than twice my size and I am 5'4 and about 150 she is not much shorter then me and the crazy thing is her mom lost over 100lbs all thru diet and exercise but she contiues to let her kids become obese i just dont get it but It breaks my heart to see obese kids They get pick on often feel bad and go to the extreme to get friends This is why future generations have shorter life spans. I have even seen parents use healthy foods as form of punshiment in the resturants the dad said "if you dont behave you will get salad instead of cheesebuger" crazy
  • dez_yaoichan
    dez_yaoichan Posts: 454
    simpley being stupid doesnt mean you get away with murder- and if the child was left in her care and died, it WOULD have been murder. simply being over weight isnt the issue here. this 13 year old was 400 pounds! thats not just being over weight! that's sick, for the parent to not care enought about her child to know when he needs help!
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    Its the parents fault from the begining if the child becomes obese..if there not teaching there child to exercise and eat healthy then yes the parents should be punished for letting there child get obese in the first place!!

    What if the parent doesn't know how to lead a healthy life and isn't educated about nutrition. I have been overweight most my life until I became educated on what to do to get healthy and stay healthy. Punish the parent, really?

    YES
    it's a parents job to know enough about nutrition to keep their child healthy. it's negligence pure and simple. You cannot use ignorance as an excuse.


    I think I love you

    I just don't understand how a child gets to 400 lbs. My goodness. If that was my child I'd move mountains to figure out what the problem was, before the child even got to 200.

    This makes me so upset for the child and what he had to endure.
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