Is junk food child abuse?

Originally posted by Freedom_is_Slavery
reply to post by Wolf321

 

If you know the difference between good and bad food yet you provide your child with bad food, than there is no excuse you are essentially killing your child slowly with this poisonous lifestyle choice.
And to help contribute to your child's early demise sure sounds like abuse to me.

Lol, so there are no rules or regulations, guidelines, enforced criteria, etc whatsoever put in place to protect people from this poison? It's out there, floating around like a loaded shotgun waiting for someone to get the upgrade before blowing their mouths off?

Beware that hamburger, it's got aids and girl germs!!!!!!1

No, fast food is NOT child abuse.

A toy mouse is not child abuse either, but sure if you try hard enough you can force one down a child's throat.

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


This is one of those subjects I feel [b]very strongly about. I cannot stand seeing young kids being fed fast food - Australia used to be the land of the fit and healthy, it's now turning into the land of the fat and lazy.

I am appalled when I walk through a shopping centre, and see kids in high chairs being given KFC or McDonalds - and their fat parents are mooching around, looking all wax faced, sweaty and gross.

It's disgusting, and I genuinely think it should be grounds for cruelty to children.

*Note - I was an obese child, due to my parents feeding me rubbish as I was growing up. It is / will become epidemic if we don't all get a grip on this.

It would depend on how much junk, and what kind of junk food, and how the kid is at burning off the junk food.

If a kid is 30 lbs overweight, flabby, and not getting the exercise he or she needs, they're going to be unhealthy. It's part of being a parent, keeping your children healthy.

When I was younger, I was a skinny kid, I could eat sugar and crap all day, and my meals, and I was underweight. The problem turned out, that all the sugar I ate, was hard on my teeth. It cost my father hundreds as a teenager to get the cavities all fixed. Then to fix them as an adult I had the front ones capped. $$$$$$$

Everything in moderation, but if the kid's eating junk foods, limit sugar, and make sure they're active enough to burn off the calories, and not end up with type 2 diabetes, or some other chronic health problem. They still need a certain amount of fruits and vegies, that's important.

Originally posted by Freedom_is_Slavery
If you know the difference between good and bad food yet you provide your child with bad food, than there is no excuse you are essentially killing your child slowly with this poisonous lifestyle choice.
And to help contribute to your child's early demise sure sounds like abuse to me.

You bring children into the world knowing full well they risk disease, dismemberment, abuse, humiliation and knowing full well the will DIE. Part of raising kids is intentionally exposing them to small amounts of bad to understand and know how to deal with LIFE and enjoy it. Giving your kid a cookie is not abuse.

You could say that something 'good' such as an avocado can be abuse if the parent were giving their kid a sole diet of avocado.

As I have said, its all about quantity.

I saw somewhere that as of the year 2000, 1 in 3 children born in the US will have early on set diabetes, and 2 in 3 minorities will have early on st diabetes. I think it was in Food inc. That is a very scary statistic people.

I saw somewhere that as of the year 2000, 1 in 3 children born in the US will have early on set diabetes, and 2 in 3 minorities will have early on st diabetes. I think it was in Food inc. That is a very scary statistic people.

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes


Sorry that link was crapiola but how about this one

The Government is concerned about the levels of obesity in this country. The latest Health Survey for England (HSE) data shows us that nearly 1 in 4 adults, and over 1 in 10 children aged 2-10, are obese.

In 2007, the Government-commissioned Foresight report predicted that if no action was taken, 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children would be obese by 2050.

www.dh.gov.uk...

Obesity can have a severe impact on people’s health, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and heart and liver disease.

There is also a significant burden on the NHS - direct costs caused by obesity are estimated to be £4.2 billion per year and forecast to more than double by 2050 if we carry on as we are.

Originally posted by badw0lf
Soo, you saying that you'd have people in some way punished for letting their children eat fast food?

Absolutely.

Originally posted by badw0lf
That's a very dodgy statement to make "Why should your children be forced to eat what you decide is best for them" - Who else is to decide if not the parents? You?

The law, of course.

Some idiot earlier on this thread was claiming that no-one, other than him, had a ''right'' to tell him what he should feed his child.

Can you not see the problem with that ?

Originally posted by badw0lf
Fast food is not child abuse. The parent who lacks control over their child is the issue, not the world around it.

The parent(s) who feed their children with this junk-food are the problem, because they are not fit to raise a young human.

I never said that fast food is child abuse, just that the parents who raise their children with junk-food are not fit to be parents.

fast food and excessive junk food is certainly child abuse...but advocating such a stance is just asking for the government and the kidnapping thugs from social services to interfere in our lives even more than they already do...instead, we should adopt a law similar to the Swedish law that forbids advertising to children...kids wouldnt want to eat at McDonalds if there wasnt a billion dollar marketing team masquerading as a clown suckering them into thinking that its what they want...children are simply incapable of making reasonable decisions, so advertising to them is wrong, and so is feeding them crap that not only lacks nutritional value, but negatively affects both their bodies and minds...

reply to post by HenryPatrick


Sounds like a good idea to me

Obesity coalition calls for junk food ad ban

A national obesity lobby group says there is strong public support for restrictions on food advertising aimed at children. The Obesity Policy Coalition, a national coalition of leading health groups, is releasing an obesity blueprint, seeking a ban on junk food advertising to children under the age of 16. It is proposing government restrictions on junk food advertisements in children's television shows, movies, the internet and in public areas.

www.abc.net.au... tion=justin

reply to post by HenryPatrick


I don't even think it has to be a regulation on targeting kids in advertising. If products are intended for kids, why would you not advertise.

It falls on parents to educate themselves and learn to be responsible. Tell your kids NO. Someone said about parents giving into their kids whining. Why let your kids whine so long in the first place. I punish my kid if they do that. They lose privileges, treats, etc. My kid loves happy meals, cokes, kit kats etc. But I rarely let her have them.

Teach your kids to make smart decisions, and understand why. This lesson extends far beyond food, but has to be practiced as a whole to be able to make a difference in any one part.

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


I might say yes because this type of behavior leads to many problems later in life.

But, should anything be done in terms of stopping it? No. This is one of the downsides of freedom. You give people freedom, including the freedom to make bad decisions, and then you let them make them. If they were thoughtful enough to care, they would not give their kids junk in the first place. They wouldn't give themselves junk. They don't care enough to change themselves, and they don't care about their kids either.

On a similar note, should allowing kids to watch r-rated movies be child abuse? What about watching hours on end of TV?

Let the dummies stay dumb. The US government doesn't care! They make money off of these types. Consider the medical care they will eventually need later in life. It's profitable (tax-wise) to let people screw themselves up so you can treat them for XYZ 'disorder'.

People have a responsibility for themselves. Unlucky kids, but the list would never end if we outlawed everything harmful for kids.

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


The definition of ''obesity'' is slightly different between the UK and the USA.

The Americans have some scarily fat kids who are supposed to be considered ''normal'' weight, rather than the fat #s that we would normally consider them to be.

I'd say its only abuse if you know its junk. I'd only call it abuse with understanding of the effects of what their doing.

Originally posted by Freedom_is_Slavery

From the age of about six until adolescence, we develop the total number of fat cells that we will carry for the rest of our lives. Overweight children start developing fat cells from about the age of two, thereby increasing their total fat cells along with the likelihood of obesity in later life. This is why it's crucial that your child is a normal weight in his or her early years.

I don't get it. If we develop all the fat cells we will ever have when young, then how come people in later years are able to put on weight as fat? I know we can eat fat that will gather in our bodies but I'm just not understanding your point.

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes

Sorry didn't mean to make this a UK vs USA thing because the USA would take the cake and eat it to

I think most country's use the same system for working out who is obese the BMI

The difference is quite large but closing UK has maybe 10 percent, AUS and Brazil has maybe 20 percent but in the USA 32 percent of all children are obese Canada also is pretty close to USA with 30 percent of children being obese.

All these country's seem to be heading to an average statistic of 30 percent

reply to post by JohnPhoenix

Fat Cell Development in Infants and Adolescents According to the University of Michigan Life Science Institute, "Like all cells, fat cells develop from stem cells. The fate of a stem cell is predetermined. Pre-fat cells are programmed to turn into fat cells when exposed to a certain hormonal environment." The body creates a set number of fat cells in development, which last for life. The Tooele County Health Department reports, "Infants begin to develop fat cells during the third trimester of pregnancy. As a young child grows, fat cells divide and multiply in the body much the same as red and white blood cells do." Unlike red and white blood cells that dissolve and exit the body through the skin, urine and bowel, fat cells endure. The website Scienceblogs.com asserts that, compared with thin children, obese children add twice the rate of new fat cells, which increases the total amount of fat cells in the body early on. These cells will continually seek replenishment throughout adulthood, putting obese children at an early weight disadvantage. Read more: The Life of a Fat Cell | eHow.com www.ehow.com...

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


Once in awhile a cookie is okay. Healthy eating is about striking a balence and including all food groups. Is letting your child overeat child abuse? Not feeding them properly child abuse? If it gets to a certain point I think it is.

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


Thank you for that extra bit of info. It helps explain what you meant.

If abuse is defined by the deliberate harming of an individual, (and lets not mince words here...hospitals are full of people who have deliberately or otherwise abused themselves or thier family ie. Children) then, by definition, this is child abuse of a kind. The argument that parents should be able to feed thier children anything they like, or that the child likes is irrelevant, in my view. The child who does not know any better, is guided by the parent...if the guidance amounts to...'do whatever you want Johnny', this is not guidance...it is an abnegation of responsibility!
None of the, 'i dont need anyone to tell me what to do with my child' rubbish, really washes very well...in the end, its an abnegation of responsibility, plain and simple.
Just my two cents worth.
Cheers