Are Parents of Obese Kids Abusive?

I know...I was thinking the same thing. 16 million starving kids in US...US has child obesity problem...um....which one is the real problem?

the "REAL" problem is the media - the ones who will run a sensational story with no research anymore. We live in a world where bloggers (and I'm one of them) are given the same credence as formerly reputable newspapers - and often the bloggers are more reliable!

The media - all of them, I'm not excluding anyone, except maybe the Wall Street Journal - seems to go first for the sensational, second for the political, and everything after that... well just let the "facts" fall where they may, because nobody reads the actual story anyway. And they can always print a retraction, either on the last page, or following some obscure link that nobody follows anyway.

The reason the two are able to go hand in hand is because of the foods that are inexpensive for poor families. It is much more expensive to feed your children fresh vegetables and fruit then it is to buy cookies, hamburger helper and other trash. The amount of processed foods that are on our shelves is absolutely disgusting. And the majority of Americans do not even know what it means to cook a healthy meal. The lack of time that we are allowed with our families due to inflation and just the American attitude towards work in general lead to unhealthy eating habits. There are reasons the Europeans are healthier, they have more time with their families, more vacation time, better social services, and less processed foods on their grocers shelves. Oh and they have better public transport, and people actually get off their asses and walk there...

Ah, maybe 10 or 20lbs over the proper weight for their height and age would just be neglectful parenting (which should not be tolerated either) but being morbidly obese... that is without a doubt abuse and I hope these parents and others like them are prosecuted to the fullest. It is not as though these are 14 year olds who have the majority of control as to what goes into to their body and can eat the majority of their meals outside the home without their parents knowing. These are young children that the parents must buy and prepare the food for. The parents are solely to blame for the condition of the children and the home. I hope these pigs never get those children back and that this serves as a wake up call for other abusive and neglectful parents. I am so sick of parents wanting accolades for the few good things they do but resfuse to own up to the bad things, instead choosing to blame all their shortcomings and blatant bad parenting on society.

These people are fine, it's the authorities that are out of control.
You can't arrest people for being fat. You can't levy a blubber tax.
You can't arrest families for eating cookies & ice cream. If you work hard & earn your pay, you can buy whatever you want. If it's BBQ ribs, so be it. Cooking & feeding your family well is not abuse, it's love.....Al-

There are no starving people/especially kids/ in this country!!! that is liberal B.S. and marketing ploy for so called feed the hungry orginizations, starving and NOT HAVING WHAT YOU WANT/JUNK FOOD/ WHEN YOU WANT IT HAS BECOME ONE AND THE SAME, My wife talked me into helping at her church's food bank, i did it one time never again, people were well dressed, talked on their cell phones and were the most demanding/ i dont want wheat bread i want white bread/ what do you mean you dont have ant tuna fish/ people i have ever dealt with, so i stand by my statement they arent starving so stop the propaganda

CHARLOTTE...Thanks...
Exactly what I was thinking.

You can have a child that is severely obese, but still malnurished.

I agree whole-heartedly with Suzanne (#4)!! I think she really hit the nail on the head with her comment!

Also...European countries are not ashamed to breastfeed their young which I feel sets the groundwork for a healthier life-long metabolism...among other things. Our country, so sadly as a majority.. gets all kinds of freaky over breastfeeding!!

I disagree that obesity is due to a lack of money for food. Legumes and fruits are cheaper per pound than junk--period. Cheetos are like three bucks for a 12 ounce bag. Candy bars are 50 cents for like an ounce--that's eight bucks a pound. You can get apples and carrots for that. It's about making good decisions and teaching your kids to do the same. My family eats a healthy, mostly vegetarian, and mostly organic diet for a quarter of what the average family of our size spends.

You just had to watch the Jamie Oliver special when he went to Huntington to see the battle you have on your hands in America. Obesity in young children is mostly the fault of the parents, but it is also the fault of the school system and society in general. I don't even think Americans know what constitutes healthy eating anymore. I don't think its OK to tread lightly around this issue anymore. I DO think its abuse and I don't think people should be allowed to have children until they do some sort of parenting course that covers all of these sorts of issues. If this offends peoples idea of civil liberties, bad luck. You are killing your children!

If one is on food stamps then they have the buying power to buy healthy foods. I work 40+ hrs. a week and get food stamps. We eat healthy and are not fat.. Also check out the fast food places, the 6 yr. old order a lg. meals and desserts.. It's a shame because a lot of these kids waddle they are so big.. A day out with the grandparents, fast food.. Teenagers come in with their parents and they are porkers.. Young kids, elementary age come in with wads of cash and buy junk food daily. People order a meal then come back up to the counter and say their still hungry and order another meal.. When they leave the place is trashed, tells you what their homes are like.. Parents are responsible for what their kids eat, it is a form of abuse/neglect. I won't eat fast food and don't buy it for my kids.. If people saw the grease their food was cooked in that would put you off eating fast food. Also the fact that your food is sitting out and flies are all over it.. Fountain dispensers aren't cleaned properly. Mold grows below where the ice is kept and dead flies are in there also.. The 5 gal. containers where tea is made and stored till needed are cleaned with bathroom cleaner.. The creamers for coffee say refrigerate are kept at room tempt from 5 am till noon.. The cheese is left sitting out on the counter at grill all day uncovered.. I gave up trying to enforce health rules, boss just ignores them.. That yogurt you buy is only good for 14 hrs. yet they keep changing the date sticker. It can be 3 days old.. People who feed their kids a diet of fast food are abusive..

I just looked at your website, Leonard, and have determined that you are a loon!

I asked in my class one day why the statistics show that a large number of overweight people comefrom low socioeconomic class. No one answered. We see what we want to see. ANd please don't make me see it any other way than how I want to see it is too often the attitude. There are poor people for real; unfortunately, there also are people who "milk the system" and make it bad for everyone else. Greed is in alot of places. We were on welfare & got some extra food when we were kids. We did need the food. What kinds of things do people buy to stretch meals? There are so many factors to the obesity issue, just like other societal issues. YET, we want to lump everyone together & make labels--there's no responsibility nor caring there. We can just deny there's a problem, or complain about it & put people down & throw up our hands & say, "not MY problem!" yeah--and that IS a problem............Whether or not this is abuse would be determined by the other issues in this case........Again, parenthood is not something where people are required to put in an application or to go to school for; it only takes the meeting of sperm & egg and so many children suffer because of this fact. We are not really very civilized until we think more before we act, especially when it comes to such an enormous responsibility of raising children.

You're kidding right? These are 4-5 year old children....they can only eat what their parents make available to them. In other words, they can't overeat unless their parents facilitate it. If you are an adult, fine, you make your choice or deal with your illness. If you are a child, you depend on your parents to feed you appropriately or take you to the doctor if they think you have a health/eating problem. You can't wait until your child is heavier than the average 5'6" adult woman, and is having trouble walking.