After reading two of the recent obesity related threads on the SDMB, I went to work. I work at McDonalds and, since I’m there for hours at time, see MANY obese people come and order fat filled foods on a daily basis. Many of the particularly obese persons are regular customers. Now, if a person makes a choice to regularly eat at McDonalds and is aware of the consequences that this will have later in life then so be it. But what bothers me the most is when parents bring in enormous children and let them continue to get fatter by eating fast food.
I’m sure most people are aware of the dangers that obesity poses to children, but just in case, here’s what the Surgeon General says (from here ):
*In 1999, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades.
Risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, occur with increased frequency in overweight children and adolescents compared to children with a healthy weight.
Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children and adolescents. Overweight and obesity are closely linked to type 2 diabetes.
Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. Overweight or obese adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.
The most immediate consequence of overweight as perceived by the children themselves is social discrimination. This is associated with poor self-esteem and depression. *
It seems to me that since children are not allowed to make many decision that could affect them later in life (i.e. having sex, getting tattoos), perhaps there should be laws that enable the state to prosecute parents who refuse to help their obese children. AFAIK there are no such laws, or at least they aren’t enforced. I know I’ll probably get much crap for this post, but my heart just breaks when I see these helpless kids being so maltreated by their parents.
So what do you guys/gals think? Should the Government treat parents of obese kids the same way they treat those who commit other types of abuse?
Actually - given obesity is becoming (has become?) the biggest social killer, maybe having an obese child, and not getting help for it, and buying it junk food, should constitute child abuse.
Sure - it’s not on a level with sexual abuse and should not be treated as such. I wouldn’t recommend - except in extreme cases - that obese children were taken off their parents. But doing nothing and giving the child a morbidly unhealthy is a serious form of physical abuse, comparable to not taking it to a doctor or getting it medicine when it is ill.
Why don’t we attach tags to obese people that sound off an alarm every time they step into a McDonald’s?
Or we could have social services extricate fat kids from their homes in the middle of the night and put them in boot camp.
Or we could embed subliminal messages into cartoons that make kids hyperactive. Then they’ll be too jittery to sit on their asses all day.
Ludicrous ideas, right? So is arresting parents of fat kids.*
[sub]*I was watching this Dr. Phil (shut up) which featured a mother of a highly obese two-year-old. This child was more than 100 lbs. It was obvious she was overfeeding this child, even after she was told she was slowly killing him. The child was taken from her and quickly began to lose weight afterwards. So I think this is clearly a case of child abuse. However this is an extreme case.[/sub]
When I was in high school, drunk with priviledges associated with having a car, my sister and I used to go to McDonald’s four or five times a week. Sometimes we’d go twice in one day…for breakfast and for an after-school snack.
I’ve never been fat but I was a good ten pounds heavier back then than I am now.
Ten pounds? Pah. Amateur. I was 30-40 pounds overweight all through high school, and I didn’t even need to go to McDonald’s! (Believe me, one can find just as much pound-packing food lying around the house to snack on as one can find at a fast food chain restaurant.)
Do schools monitor this at all? Back when I was in school—in the days before anyone had any civil rights—overweight kids or kids with really bad posture or some other problem would be sent to the school nurse, who would talk to their parents and suggest remedies.
Of course, they also did this if they thought you might be gay or were reading “too-advanced” books . . .
Hey, people! The OP is talking about OBESE children’s PARENTS being reprimanded. Not the kids themselves. And not children who are a couple of pounds larger than average.
As it is, CPS actually have to investigate cases of child abuse before anyone is actually charged (or am I totally wrong on that?). What’s wrong with instituting a similar system for this situation?
The parents of a larger-than-average child are reported. CPS goes around there and investigates. It may be found that
the initial report is completely false, and the kid isn’t overweight
the kid is slightly overweight, but not so bad that it would be considered abuse. The parents are encouraged to go to a seminar or something similar to learn about children’s nourishment needs.
the kid has some kind of medical condition which affects the child’s weight. Talking with a doctor would confirm whether anything could be done about the child’s weight
the parents are overfeeding the child/not giving the child a decent diet and the child is obese. In this case the child DESERVES help, and the parents need education and monitoring. Maybe the child doesn’t need to be taken away, but the situation needs to be fixed.
I see nothing wrong with this kind of system being implemented, whether in America, Japan or Australia (or any other country for that matter).
Sure, but let’s not forget the kids who are too skinny.
And the kids who are too shy.
And the kids who have poor social skills.
And the kids who smell funny.
And the kids who look funny.
And the kids who don’t dress right.
The government should be involved in all their family lives. Really, if you don’t want a government official right there in your house monitoring your activities most of the time, there must be something wrong with you.
So if a kid takes drugs or gets drunk is CPS going to be beome involved then too?
I understand what the original post is saying but I don't agree with the solution. Two things could help solve this problem. First, no soft drinks in schools and no outside services brought in to serve school lunches. Second, restricting advertising fast food on TV shows geared at kids. Its been done to the tobacco and fast food industry. Fast food can't be far behind. And yes, I know its not exactly the same situation because people do need to eat. However, they don't need to be encouraged to eat fat all the time.
Oh, or maybe they can have some smart aleck kids make some smarmy ads where they ask fast food executives some stupid, obvious questions and "catch" them at their evil game. That will get kids to stop going to McDonalds!
Proffessional bullies. That should motivate the little fatties into losing weight. I myself enjoy blinding them as they ride past my car with a spotlight (I bought a car from a police auction, old crown victoria, the spotlight is so awesome it makes me cry sometimes).
I know how the OP feels- my ex husband’s sister used to feed his neice pizza all the time for dinner. If it wasn’t pizza it was KFC or Hamburger Helper or Captain Crunch cereal. I swear, I never EVER saw her eat a piece of fruit or a vegatable. She was very overweight for her age and miserable, but by then she didn’t know any better as far as eating habits went and the mom just kept feeding it to her. Their weekly groceries looked like yours would if you were having a big party- cakes, cookies, chips, soda. Ugh. I think it was child abuse,and if I’d thought any good would have come from it I would have turned her in. I think there should be some standard, just like there are other standards of child care that are evaluated.
That’s ridiculous. None of those things are fatal diseases. Morbid obesity is. Allowing a child to continue and increase its obesity is physical abuse.
An obese child could eventually DIE from its obesity.
Shyness, poor social skills, lack of trendy clothing and bad personal hygeine… sounds like a kid being groomed for a life of social alienation. Surely the parents could do SOMETHING to help their children in such a situation. Poor social skills and shyness are conditions that, left untreated, can progress into full-blown social phobia and/or panic disorder. Are you aware of the problems that they can cause? Depression, increased likeliness of excessive drug use, problems maintaining a job, antisocial attidude… the list goes on. The most extreme result is suicide. These are things that could be prevented. It should be the parent’s responsibility; if not, the state should intervene.
No - it sounds like an awkward stage that a lot of children go through. Some may not emerge from it, and some may be more scarred by it than others. But that’s life. You can’t provide every child with an A1 perfect existence of beauty, riches, talent, and highschool popularity.
You can try and prevent your child from waddling to class weighing 300lb by the age of 10, eventually growing dangerous fat around its heart and vital organs, being unable to exercise, suffering from shortness of breath, hypertension, diabetes, sleep disorders, and a high risk factor for heart disease and cancer.
Saying that is comparable to some poor single parent being unable to buy their child the latest sport shoes, or encouraging their rebellious teenager to do his homework and wear deodorant - that’s just laughable.
Ok, I’ll agree with that. I just want to know when you think that the line will be drawn. Since parents are, inevitably, the most influential people in a child’s life, nearly everything negative that occurs when that child grows up can be their fault. Obviously, everyone does not agree on what constitutes child abuse… so how do you expect that if we, as a society, broaden the definition of child abuse, that all the instances where kids are taken from their parents will be totally reasonable?
Would parents of obese teenagers get into the same “trouble” as parents of obese toddlers? Say a child was of average weight until they reached 12 or 13.
I remember when I was at this age, I used to go to the candy store and buy tons of Little Debbies. I’d eat two oatmeal creme pies (the big ones) right before dinner and eat another one for dessert. I could get away with this because I was a latch key kid and there was no one there to wag their finger at me. It just so happens to that I was a skinny child, but if I had been obese would it have been my parents’ fault? Even though the meals they provided for me were good and nutritious?
I guess what I’m saying is that parental responsibility isn’t always clear cut, especially with older kids.
Just want to point out that considering somethng child abuse (or more likely neglect,in the case of obesity) does not necessarily mean the removal of children.
It’s not so clear cut, but I have to say, I personally have never seen a normal sized child suddenly become obese or even heavy at the age of 12 or 13. The truly obese children I have known (not just chubby or who have a little baby fat- the ones who don’t have the energy to play with other children, or who can’t take gym because of the weight) have two things in common- they were that way from a very young age, and have at least one very obese parent. Actually, I should say three things- none of them appeared to be happy. Perhaps if there had been intervention (not necessarily removal) earlier, when the parents did have more control over the over the child’s diet, there would not be an obese teenager to wonder about.