# British are taking children away from obese mom's who will not control their weight - Is this just? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131 "2009-10-26T02:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/21 "2009-10-26T14:10:35Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > I am aware. I was simply pointing out that latent obesity in the parents can have adverse effects on a child. Sorry, it was your use of the word “unjustifiably” that caused a knee-jerk reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/22 "2009-10-26T14:14:46Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > Really? Is that _ **all** _ the mother needs to do to help her children lose weight? No, but she’ll find out all she needs to know. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/23 "2009-10-26T14:25:23Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > IANA children and families social worker, but I believe any such orders have to be made in the “best interests of the child” - there are lots of reasons why SWs and courts would see the best interests of a 13 year old, say, as being completely different from those of a new born baby or a 4 year old. It could be anything, such as schooling, family bonds or antagonisms, the child’s personal preference etc etc. I’m not an expert either, and the thing about the kids having different needs makes sense. I wonder what the timeline was like, though. Were they always planning to take all of the kids, but legally weren’t able to when they took the youngest set, or has something else changed? An American family claimed to be going through the same thing. [http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/07/22/2009-07-22\_is\_obesity\_child\_abuse\_court\_to\_decide\_if\_sc\_mom\_jerri\_gray\_neglected\_555pound\_1.html](http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/07/22/2009-07-22_is_obesity_child_abuse_court_to_decide_if_sc_mom_jerri_gray_neglected_555pound_1.html) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/24 "2009-10-26T14:32:37Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > No, but she’ll find out all she needs to know. No she won’t. For example she won’t find out how she is supposed to develop the coping skills she needs to deal with her childrens’ tantrums when they are at the supermarket and demanding sugary or salty fatty snacks. That is just one of the many issues your simplistic comments are ignoring. Anyway SWs and health workers will probably already have been providing the parents with counselling and information on these issues. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/25 "2009-10-26T16:02:59Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > I am aware. I was simply pointing out that latent obesity in the parents can have adverse effects on a child. From what you describe, “latent” doesn’t mean what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/26 "2009-10-26T16:24:13Z")
They’re 300 pounders in the bodies of 150-pounders? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/27 "2009-10-26T16:42:57Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I wonder what the other issues are that only allows them to take the kids a few at a time? Concern for the suspension of the vehicle transporting the waifs? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/28 "2009-10-26T17:16:43Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > Much of the right wing press in the UK love to stick it into the public sector (except for female nurses in physical medicine, for whom they have a Madonna complex). Social work is their favourite scapegoat, since the departments involved can almost never answer back. It’s an easy way for lazy and unscrupulous journalists to take the moral highground, increase sales and pretend to be “sticking up for the little guy”. > > Having said that, this particular report is not as sensationalist as some you see. You’re right, it isn’t, but it’s still clearly part of the same genre. In British newspapers there seem to be only ever two kinds of social workers: power-crazed ones who take children into care when they shouldn’t, and ineffectual ones who don’t take them into care when they should. > [@Nava](#): > > From what you describe, “latent” doesn’t mean what you think it means. Somehow that sounds so much more authoritative from a Spaniard 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/29 "2009-10-26T17:43:23Z")
Yes, having obese children is tantamount to child abuse. They are doomed to health problems, poor joints, fatty deposits in their arteries, a higher chance of diabetes. The consequences of it are greater and longer lasting than beating your children with a belt, and we consider that to be child abuse. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/30 "2009-10-26T17:44:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :eek: She had a 13 year old that weighed more than 225 lbs!? Holy crap. That’s almost \*double \*my weight and I’m twice his age! That’s how much I weigh and I am 6’ tall and that’s 30 lbs overweight for me. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/31 "2009-10-27T01:13:52Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > All she has to do is google “healthy food” or anything similar. That assumes that she can read. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/32 "2009-10-27T01:28:47Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > No, but she’ll find out all she needs to know. Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out. Whew. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/33 "2009-10-27T13:17:32Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > No she won’t. For example she won’t find out how she is supposed to develop the coping skills she needs to deal with her childrens’ tantrums when they are at the supermarket and demanding sugary or salty fatty snacks. That is just one of the many issues your simplistic comments are ignoring. > > Anyway SWs and health workers will probably already have been providing the parents with counselling and information on these issues. Sure she will. And just in case the zillon mommy boards out there don’t have the advice on how to deal with tantrums when your kids want Kavity Krispies and Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon, I’ll post some here. 1. Say no. If they continue to tantrum, leave the store. 2. Don’t shop with your kids. Shop when another adult or older child is available to watch the children, invest in a grocery delivery service. 3. Don’t even go into stores that carry Kavity Krispies and Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon. Try smaller health food grocers, coops, and specialty markets (the meat market, the green grocer, the bakery). And if you can’t manage to cope with one of these suggestions, maybe, honestly, your kids are better off under someone else’s care. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/34 "2009-10-27T13:21:00Z")
“Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon” That sounds awesome!. I want some. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/35 "2009-10-27T13:29:02Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Sure she will. And just in case the zillon mommy boards out there don’t have the advice on how to deal with tantrums when your kids want Kavity Krispies and Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon, I’ll post some here. > > 1. Say no. If they continue to tantrum, leave the store. > > 2. Don’t shop with your kids. Shop when another adult or older child is available to watch the children, invest in a grocery delivery service. > > 3. Don’t even go into stores that carry Kavity Krispies and Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon. Try smaller health food grocers, coops, and specialty markets (the meat market, the green grocer, the bakery). > > And if you can’t manage to cope with one of these suggestions, maybe, honestly, your kids are better off under someone else’s care. I stand corrected. You obviously know so much more than I do about how life is for people on low incomes in British cities. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/36 "2009-10-27T13:37:53Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Somehow that sounds so much more authoritative from a Spaniard 😃 Just keep in mind that the one who’s looking for the six-fingered man is a different Doper… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/37 "2009-10-27T13:41:40Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > Much of the right wing press in the UK love to stick it into the public sector (except for female nurses in physical medicine, for whom they have a Madonna complex). Social work is their favourite scapegoat, since the departments involved can almost never answer back. It’s an easy way for lazy and unscrupulous journalists to take the moral highground, increase sales and pretend to be “sticking up for the little guy”. In my humble opinoin, if it were not for the socialists who ruined the economy, the government employees would not be forced to steal chubby babies for Thanksgiving. I modestly propose that times were better in the free market of Swift’s day. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/38 "2009-10-27T13:46:17Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > An American family claimed to be going through the same thing. > > [http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/07/22/2009-07-22\_is\_obesity\_child\_abuse\_court\_to\_decide\_if\_sc\_mom\_jerri\_gray\_neglected\_555pound\_1.html](http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/07/22/2009-07-22_is_obesity_child_abuse_court_to_decide_if_sc_mom_jerri_gray_neglected_555pound_1.html) The American mother is facing criminal charges for letting her son get that fat, not just having the child taken. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/39 "2009-10-27T13:54:43Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > 1. Don’t shop with your kids. Shop when another adult or older child is available to watch the children, invest in a grocery delivery service. Way to tailor your post to the circumstances of the OP. You want a broke person to “invest” in a grocery delivery service? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131/40 "2009-10-27T14:09:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Way to tailor your post to the circumstances of the OP. You want a broke person to “invest” in a grocery delivery service? As far as I know, “no” is still free. In fact, “no” is a money saver! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-are-taking-children-away-from-obese-moms-who-will-not-control-their-weight-is-this-just/515131.md?page=3)