# 5 years old, BMI 31... child abuse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885 "2011-04-01T23:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/102 "2011-04-06T15:15:16Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Sorry, but when my borderline overweight daughter asks for thirds (and she has to ask) I am not going to say yes. > > I also restrict food by making just enough for all of us for dinner. If there are no seconds, no one can have them. > > I also send them with a lunch to school. While they might be able to trade with their peers, at this age, they don’t have access to buy extra food. > > Food is also restricted to meal times and snack times. > > She has proven that if left to her own devices, she will eat until she throws up. Right now, she has to be restricted. We are working on getting her to monitor herself but she isn’t really mature enough to do that on her own yet. You have my sympathies - I can’t imagine how hard that must be to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/103 "2011-04-06T15:38:18Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > You have my sympathies - I can’t imagine how hard that must be to deal with. It’s not hard at all. It’s just the routine for now. Teaching her to control herself, that part will be hard. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/104 "2011-04-06T15:47:09Z")
How old is she? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/105 "2011-04-06T17:08:21Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > The health risks of overfeeding are also nothing compared to those of underfeeding where immediate organ damage or death may be involved, vs health problems when they get older. Do you seriously suppose that there aren’t some pretty immediate health issues associated with a [BMI of _31?_](http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html) The _low_ end of obese at 5 years old is a BMI of 18. Not to mention that getting burned by dad’s cigarette a couple times a week won’t immediately kill you either – hey, it’s quite possible to live a normal life span – but it’s still, legally, unquestionably, abuse. I don’t think “risk of organ damage” should be the yardstick, here. Hopefully someone would intervene long before it got to that point. I’d also point out that underfeeding is also typically a long, drawn out process, with health affects that accumulate over time, just as overfeeding is. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/106 "2011-04-06T17:14:34Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > How old is she? Only 7. (Though the shit she has been through has messed up her eating so I predict we will still be here when she is 10.) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885/107 "2011-04-06T17:50:43Z")
> [@jerricurrl](#): > > [Victim blaming - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victim_blaming) > > Perhaps it is the BULLYERS who are responsible for the bullying? > > That some people feel justified in calling fat people derogatory names (as displayed in this thread), and pass this on to their children, is not the fat person’s fault. Is teaching your children to be mean to other people child abuse? First of all, some kids don’t need to be taught to be mean; they’re capable of it all on their own. Second, having been an overweight child, and having been teased about my weight, I know now through counseling and perspective that I had the power to change my behavior the entire time. Sometimes, the victim contributes to their own bullying by refusing to change behavior that is considered unacceptable by the group. It’s a sad reality, but it is reality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-years-old-bmi-31-child-abuse/576885.md?page=5)