That is one of the messed up thing I ever did. It's like what Nazi Germany did

Originally posted by starwarsisreal
That is one of the messed up thing I ever did. It's like what Nazi Germany did

I don't understand what your statement means? This is nothing like Nazi Germany, it's attempting to see whether or not parents are neglecting to provide their child with a healthy lifestyle.

Could you elaborate?

~Keeper

Wow!! This is tough. I don't believe a child should be taken away from their parents for this. The parents should be helped and monitered strictly. They have to be inspired and motivated to help their child. They need an adequate nutrition education. It is pretty sad when people on a low income can not afford fresh produce and better cuts of meat. My guess is that the children mentioned in the article are from lower income and lower educated parents.

I had a very strange experience with this same thing. I used to have one foster child at a time. I got one 12 year old girl who was 100 pounds over weight. Her pediatriction talked to me about it and said I needed to reduce the number of bad carbs in her diet. In foster care we are not allowed to feed the children any differently than the rest of the family. So guess what? My whole family all changed for this dear girl. I had her ride the exercise bike 20 min a day and jump on the trampoline for ten minutes. Things went well until one day she got real ugly with me and said she didn't have to obey me. She demanded to talk to her case worker. So I went and got the phone and let her talk to her worker. I ended up under investigation for putting a 12 year old on a "diet" and forcing her to exercise. When the investigator came out we were having dinner. I had a huge pan of stir fry on the stove and the girl loaded up on as much as she wanted. I never limited portions. When the child was finished, the investigator noticed she was outside jumping on the trampoline and playing with my daughter. They were having a good time. When the child was questioned she said the food was good and she could eat as much as she wanted. When questioned about the exercise, she said it was fun.

I was cleared of all charges. The whole report was mailed to me. I got to read everything the case worker said about me. Everytime I mentioned anything about the girls's weight, I was made to look evil. I was the bad guy. I had the girl for one month and she lost 15 pounds with me and lost a size.

I had to be very careful with her. She tried so hard to sabatoge her program. I did not know how addicted to food people can become. It was everything to her.

Yes...without a doubt! They are your children and you are resposible for their health! If your kid is 12 at 300 pounds or some other crazy age/weight then you 1. Know they are overweight 2. Your the one feeding them 3. Responsible for their health and well being... so if your child is unhealthy and overweight then child protective services(usa) should take your child from you and you should be charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

LifENcircleS

I don't think the children should necessarily be taken away from the parents but I think that in the case of morbidly obese children their lives are at risk (especially from a heart attack at a young age or other severe health problems) so I think the best solution ideally would be nutritional counseling for the entire family.

Most kids are not as active now as they were when I was growing up. We didn't have computers, we didn't have cell phones, we were outside running around a lot. I don't remember being inside (unless my parents made me, or in the winter) most of my childhood. Yeah, I'm old.

Aside from children not being active enough, they tend to be stress eaters and junk food eaters, and parents don't make healthy foods from scratch like they used to. It's a new era of consumers who are consuming too much high fructose corn syrup, diet drinks that actually mess with your metabolism and make you want to eat more and the usual processed foods eaten way too often.

I think when children go to their physician and they are observed to be obese the parents should be given the responsibility of going through nutritional education, and then some sort of follow up to ensure that they understand the medical (as well as social) ramifications of what could happen if they let their child continue on the path to morbid obesity. The social ramifications at the self-esteem developing age is almost as critical as the medical problems the child will be having in the future, if they don't yet have those problems in the present.

I don't know if the children should be taken away from the parents because there is no guarantee they will be placed in a foster home or with relatives that will guarantee any better results. I don't have a solid answer to the OP's question because I believe letting your child become morbidly obese is a form of child abuse but a lot depends on if the parents are willing to actively make changes to do something about it.

I agree with the comment about nutritional counseling. Can you imagine the horror a child would feel being taken away from his or her parents? I'm sure they would be devestated.

First, it's nothing remotely similar to Nazi Germany. In Nazi Germany, they'd simply have gassed the kid, and probably the parents as well. Such odious comparisons are meaningless.

I can see why the State might want to intervene. They're paying for health care. A morbidly obese person is going to have much higher health costs throughout his life, so they have an interest in preventing this. If the parents are culpable for the dangerous excess weight, then I can see holding them responsible for helping the kid to get down to a healthier weight. Failing that, there is some logic in removing the child from the unhealthy environment.

Unfortunately, this logic fails when you consider where to put the child. Disrupting the child's home is traumatic for the child, even if it is potentially lifesaving. Placing him with relatives might be OK, but in many cases there are no fit relatives to take a child. The child must be raised by the State, either in a home, or in a foster parent environment. These are often highly unsatisfactory.

While the initial problem, excessive weight, might be helped, having the State raise the kid would likely introduce many more problems that are just as bad or even worse.

It seems to me that rather than taking the kid away and punishing the parents for neglect, it would be far better to leave the family intact and work to educate the parents and possibly involve them in therapy to help them understand the need to get the kid's weight under control. Otherwise, you're just taking a bad situation and making it even worse.

Why NOT? They've been doing this for years for underweight children, no matter whether it was genetic, high metabolism or what the heck the pediatrician actually said about the health of the child, I saw this numerous times, At least they'd be doing something about an actual problem, cause really in the US how many children are actually underweight as opposed to Overwieght? This used to be a trend of seemingly wanting a fatter country and jealousy over those who were slimmer and didn't look like gluttonous PIGS! I say yes let's do it... my how the tables have turned hahaha!

Removing children from their parents opens a whole new can of worms. They need help for being obese and they will need further counseling for the grief and trauma for the separation.

*'s all around
Counseling and education are definitely the way to go.*

Every situation is unique unto itself though, but I believe that removal should be the last option.
That shouldn't be ruled out.
As (ldyserenity) pointed out, (* for that, but we could do without the prejudice).

I have said it before, and I'll say it again.
We live in what could be described as "the McDonalds generation", where instant gratification is what life has become all about.

It's so easy....
Too easy....

Poor kids.....

Morbidly Obese? Don't you think these kids have enough on there plates?

lines

Not really sure what to say about this one since I can't find the kid's height.

Overweight children aren't exactly that big of an issue for me since they can use their over-nutrition to develop their bodies (e.g. height) more come the puberty stage.