Harvard Researchers Want Fat Kids Taken from Their Homes

Harvard Researchers Want Fat Kids Taken from Their Homes

www.theatlanticwire.com

As the Western world gets fatter and fatter, the solutions to slimming it down get ever more draconian. In Britain yesterday, the government issued guidelines saying "children under the age of 5, including babies who can’t walk yet, should exercise every day." Today, in the States, a pair of Harvard scholars writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association advocate stripping away the custody rights of parents of super obese children. They're for real!

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Let me play devils advocate here and say: why not? Clearly, in most developed nations, we have willingly abdicated our responsibilities not only to ourselves but also to our children over to the authorities, quite willingly in most cases. The government feeds us, provides us with housing, pays for our doctors visits, subsidizes our utilities, educates us, educates our children, feeds our children in school, watches our children while we work … they are the parents, not us. We have infantilized ourselves quite willingly in the name of fairness and making our lives safer and easier.

why not let them have this additional intrusion as well? After all, its for your own good.


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reply to post by SirMike


Foster homes are a horrible place in most cases to raise a child...I have seen first hand some of the conditions of said homes and a good portion of them are horribly fit to take care of children but because there are few people doing it...most of them do it because it's a nice paycheck each month...horrible idea...talk about intrusive and christ how traumatic would this be to anyones child here that someone comes in and takes them away...how the hell can anyone agree with that...

reply to post by SirMike


let us not play devil's advocate...it's just wrong

Yeah add more stress to their life adding another trigger for their disorder...

Yeah that will slim them down!

Fat kids are harder to kidnap and move. They wont budge unless you get the Army Corps of engineers to help. They are kidnap resistant.

I just think it's more pathetic of the people not to get off their lazy asses and inform their selves of how to get fit, and DO IT!! It's a shame that states feel the need to go to such extremes, just to stay afloat in the long run.

Just sweat every day, people, and eat healthy foods. Supplement with healthy fatty acids, like evening primrose oil for the gla, and molecularly distilled fish oil for the dha/epa, and your hormonal status will balance out, and the fat will melt away.

Then you wouldn't have the estate tripping out over the fact that your stupidity is causing the social system to become unsustainable.

Think!

reply to post by SirMike


whatever family you put them in, does not matter, because they will still grow up in a society built around obese forming habbits and lifestyle ( american culture ). ultimately, that is the real situation to be addressed and resolved.

Originally posted by unityemissions
I just think it's more pathetic of the people not to get off their lazy asses and inform their selves of how to get fit, and DO IT!! It's a shame that states feel the need to go to such extremes, just to stay afloat in the long run.

Just sweat every day, people, and eat healthy foods. Supplement with healthy fatty acids, like evening primrose oil for the gla, and molecularly distilled fish oil for the dha/epa, and your hormonal status will balance out, and the fat will melt away.

Then you wouldn't have the estate tripping out over the fact that your stupidity is causing the social system to become unsustainable.

Think!

Now there you go getting all absolutely correct and stuff. How dare you be right! It makes those that ARE wrong feel queezy and sad. It's all your fault. People like you must be eliminated. Round them all up!

There are dozens of reasons that a child might be better off if their parents didn't enable their errant behavior, or mistreat them, or simply be incapable of caring for them in good health.

Do we really expect that breaking the family unit is a solution? Can we realistically expect that the state knows best, especially when their involvement is limited to handing the child over to another party whose primary concern is not about loving the child?

Are we accepting that the real problem hovers between parent and child and therefor the relationship should be severed?

Beware ivory-tower pronouncements. Often they fail to see the reality, by choice or disposition.

A better Idea would be to fix the food pyramid. Lets try limiting all processed food that has the nutrients removed. Cut back on the amount allowed amounts of sugar and salts in our pre=made foods. A proper diet is more important than exercise though exercise is imortant.

reply to post by SirMike


I sometimes hop on the fence with issues like this because of course parents should be the ones responsible for their kids health and behavior, BUT, not all parents are/can be good parents. So, what to do? Assistance I guess, it is a reality.
Insult to injury, imo, is the declining and removal of phys ed in schools.

Despite the wealth of knowledge concerning the benefits of physical education and physical activity, only 8% of elementary schools, 6.4% of middle schools, and 5.8% of high schools provide daily physical education to all of its students (SHPPS, 2000). In addition, 20 percent of all elementary schools in the U.S. have abolished recess in favor of increased classroom time under pressure to improve student achievement (Satcher, 2005). Less than 25% of children are engaged in 30 minutes of any type of daily physical activity (Satcher, 2005). Even when physical education programs are in place, most students are not engaged in vigorous physical activity for the majority of their class time (Fairclough and Stratton, 2005). It is estimated that boys only spend about 18 minutes engaged in moderate and vigorous activity and girls spend about 16 minutes (Fairclough and Stratton, 2005). These statistics are disappointing and are resulting in negative outcomes in health and school performance for America?s children. Many parents and educators are probably wondering: Why are we neglecting the health needs of our children?

Barriers to implementing comprehensive health education programs including physical education are abundant. Gaining administrative and government support for health programs is difficult considering the pressure that local leaders face to improve academic skills (Symons, 1997). Physical education programs are not often seen as a primary concern to these administrators since many believe that student health is not of concern to schools but should be an issue that parents address. There has not been any mandates for schools to improve physical education despite the recommendations of over 40 health, educational, and social service organizations that student health and education are mutually dependent (Symons, 1997). Additionally, budget constraints are frequently cited as reasons for cut backs on health and physical education, especially in low-income areas (Symons, 1997).

sitemaker.umich.edu...

Sure, kids should eat better, schools should provide more healthy foods, marketing to kids should be for more healthy foods instead of sugar and soda, and parents should be more involved in their kids diets and exercise, but this is just too much to ask I reckon. And I guess suggesting reducing number of products that have no health value, or the marketing of such, sounds commie, but when will we realize that not all parents are good ones? I hate to look to institutes for more help, but until we, as a society take more responsibility, the fat wheel keeps turning. What's the middle ground here?
The thing is, the problem is continuing at a rampant pace, so something else has to be considered.

Peace,
spec
Another factor to consider is health costs to a society that does not invest in the health of their own future.

reply to post by ScRuFFy63


You are 100% right! Processed foods, especially ones with hydrogenated oils are the culprit. If the FDA and USDA would do their job and actually tell the truth about healthy foods instead of garnering support for contributing industries things would turn around in a big way. but wait, that would mean big pharma and Monsato would lose money...guess we're screwed!

Originally posted by SirMike


Let me play devils advocate here and say: why not? Clearly, in most developed nations, we have willingly abdicated our responsibilities not only to ourselves but also to our children over to the authorities, quite willingly in most cases. The government feeds us, provides us with housing, pays for our doctors visits, subsidizes our utilities, educates us, educates our children, feeds our children in school, watches our children while we work … they are the parents, not us. We have infantilized ourselves quite willingly in the name of fairness and making our lives safer and easier.

why not let them have this additional intrusion as well? After all, its for your own good.


www.theatlanticwire.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

But where does it end? When does it stop? I personally know families who unjustly had state workers invade their homes and lives and turned them inside out over a lie, and with no remorse for it. If they aren't taking kids from families, those agencies can't justify their own cause and fund their existence, so they continue to do so without repudiation. Once they take your children, you are thrust into the civil court system where it could take years to get them back, all while the State collects thousands of dollars each month that they house and feed your child. It's absolutely horrible what they do to families and I would love nothing more than to see it go back to the day when communities rallied around people to help prevent abuse and drive out those types of people, but I know that's being idealistic... I digress.

Not to mention that most of the obese children in this country are that way because of poor parents who have to feed their kids after working 2 or 3 jobs, and so they buy the cheapest most affordable food they can, which as we all know, is chock full of all of the amazing ingredients that lead to obesity. That's abusive? Neglectful?

Change the foods and get rid of the crap that corporations use just to feed their bottom line, and you'll see less obesity, I would almost guarantee it. If the name of the game is money (which it is), what would motivate food companies? Produce cheaper food with less costly ingredients.... but if the name of the game was about the health of people and nutrition for all humans, you'd have better food and probably minimal obesity, and for that matter, far less health problems in general.

We spend hundreds of billions in healthcare, and the same companies that own big pharma also have people that sit on the boards of companies that produce food (Monsanto). They know if they get you to eat the crappy foods that contain ingredients KNOWN to poison you (aspartame, high fructose corn syrup), you'll end up with increased medical costs, thus putting money in the pockets of big pharma.

All while spending your hard earned money just to stay alive.

IF the government is our parents, as the OP points out, then THEY need to be locked up forever for the worst form of child abuse, neglect, molestation and rape of the children of this once great nation. Then let them deal with being labeled as child abusers in prison.

I would pay to see that day.

~Namaste

Originally posted by SonOfTheLawOfOne
Not to mention that most of the obese children in this country are that way because of poor parents who have to feed their kids after working 2 or 3 jobs, and so they buy the cheapest most affordable food they can, which as we all know, is chock full of all of the amazing ingredients that lead to obesity. That's abusive? Neglectful?

Outside of the supplements I mentioned, healthy eating is really not expensive as many try to make it out to be. Many healthy items can be bought in bulk. As long as one has an hour a week to cook food, it can be done for just about anyone.

Change the foods and get rid of the crap that corporations use just to feed their bottom line, and you'll see less obesity, I would almost guarantee it. If the name of the game is money (which it is), what would motivate food companies? Produce cheaper food with less costly ingredients.... but if the name of the game was about the health of people and nutrition for all humans, you'd have better food and probably minimal obesity, and for that matter, far less health problems in general.

You want to change the corporations? Easy. Opt out. If enough people do, they are forced to adapt else die out. That means they get healthy, else go bankrupt. Trying to change the policies is not the best way, because the politicians are in bed with the corporations. We must deviate and work for change outside of their corrupt/rigged system.

reply to post by SirMike


So when a parent is demonstrably unable or unwilling to care for the health of their child, what do you propose be done?

Remember, children are not pets and they are not property.

Originally posted by TheWalkingFox
reply to post by SirMike

 

So when a parent is demonstrably unable or unwilling to care for the health of their child, what do you propose be done?

Remember, children are not pets and they are not property.

I wholeheartedly agree that children are not property; but the law considers them 'chattel' which is little better. They have no personal power as citizens. So it is understandable that the state might consider this university's pronouncements as justification to challenge parental authority over them.

It's patently crippled reasoning that allows this to be the case; but no one has ever changed that posture when considering the power of the state over the fate of children.

reply to post by unityemissions


It's not the state in it's pure sense that wants this to happen...it's a few people who feel as though they know best...

reply to post by chrismarco


You may feel that they don't know best, but they tend to THINK things through..

Haven't the educated beyond their intelligence level people at Harvard ruined this country enough already. My husband and I know enough Harvard educated morons so intoxicated on the impressiveness of their credentials they have lost all the perspective and common sense that those of us in the trenches of real life operate on. He has had to spend three years helping his company undo the damage wrought by one of these geniuses. Just look at the mess our society is in because some MBA decrees profit is king and to hell with quality, consumers, safety, satisfaction, environment, employees, etc. Cut out everything that used to add value and quality to life for the sake of hiking up the bottom line. Sacrifice long term growth and development for short term gain.

And so it goes with this latest from the ivory tower. Do these people lift their heads up long enough to see what is going on in the world around them? There are parents raping their infants and toddlers--I just read a couple of horrible accounts in the news. I wish that were rare but look it up, it isn't. There are meth addicts selling their small children for horrific acts of abuse I wouldn't wish on Hitler himself, so they can have their next fix. What happens to these kids? They get sent to the ER to get patched up from their horrific injuries and go...where? Are these great minds of Harvard not aware of the dismal plight of most children who end up in the system?

I get it. It's open season on fat people. They are the last group of people it is safe in our politically correct society to hate on and dump on because the perception is they make themselves fat. So let's just rip their kids from them, and throw these kids in an already burdened and broken down system. Let's not throw our energies into educating parents on how to feed their families properly on a tight budget and tight schedule. Let's not throw our energies into encouraging companies to stop putting high fructose corn syrup in everything. Let's not allocate money away from our war machine to make dieticians and other professionals available to advise and monitor these children as they continue to live in the security of their homes.