Is childhood obesity child abuse?

Question

I was watching TV when a promo from the local RSPCA came on. It said 40% of pets were obese, and from now on they could prosecute anyone who had an obese pet for animal cruelty.

I thought it was fair enough, and decided to take my dog for 2 walks a day instead of only 1.

But then I realised there was no legislation where I live for parents with obese children. Half the kids in my area are fat, and every second one I see is eating McDonalds, drinking Coke or sucking on ice cream cones.

It suddenly seemed crazy that I could be prosecuted if I allowed my pet to become fat, but my kids could be morbidly obese and the law can't touch me.

Is this a case of "You wouldn't do it to a dog ..."?

What do other people think?

wires: I get what you mean about intent, but I'm sure people with obese dogs and cats aren't force-feeding to deliberately make them fat: they are just too selfish and lazy to take care of them properly. I fail to see why selfish and lazy parents should be treated differently.

Also, I'm sure they would educate pet owners before prosecuting them rather than instantly fining them: why can't this happen with parents as well?

Answer 1

Your thinking is precisely 'on track'... it's amazing that the lobbyists against animal abuse obviously have far greater influence or at least a much more attentive audience, than do their counterparts for the prevention of same against infants of our own species!

It's sickening to see those infants and children as you describe, waddling in the streets and parks of our country with their pudgy little hands clutched in the grasp of their parents' sadly ignorant control.

The obesity of America's adult and teen population has been a near constant topic for the media for many years now, to which our people seem to wear blinders, despite the growing numbers and profit of health clubs everywhere. Watching the doors of these centers, one will see a constant stream of overweight members enter, as others make their sweaty egress to their feeding grounds outside.

What's wrong with the picture described? Sadly, it's sharp as a steak knife and no amount of air-brushing can make it attractive, even to the uncritical eye.

Perhaps we need to adapt the code of laws and regulation as developed and adapted by the RSPCA and create an RSPCC'hildren to be enacted and empowered to protect our innocents from the ignorants who breed and feed them.

What do I think? "It's not even a DOG's life" for far too many of our youth, beginning at the most dangerous and influential periods of their learning-- infancy!

By the way, 'some answerers'... extremely rare is the child born with a 'predisposition' to be fat. Absurd. Know that "fat cells" are formed during early stages of growth... and stay within the organism throughout its lifetime! Google you that! Why do you think lipo(fat)suction(vacuuming) is the ONLY way for some people to get rid of those thunder thighs and saddle bags grown throughout one's life?

Do something, please... I'm too old to begin a crusade, but I'll join it in a cholesteral heartbeat!

Answer 2

If it is abuse depends on the degree of obesity. Intent is also a factor. I hope parents aren't deliberately over-feeding their children with the goal of making them obese. Rather, parents are stressed out trying to make a living. Unfortunately, they don't always have all the time they need to devote to their children. This includes doing physical activities with their children or encouraging their children to join in sports and other physical activities.

Of course, computers are a big part of the problem. Computers allow a child to be entertained for hours on end without performing any real physical activity. I'm sure there are those people out there that would say that to deny a child the entertainment of a computer would somehow stunt the child's development.

Unhealthy, fat-laden, over-sweet snacks are another problem. I am encouraged to see that some schools are removing the candy and other junk food from vending machines in schools and replacing them with fruits and other healthier options.

Rather than placing blame, both the parents and the children need to be educated on the benefits of physical activity and proper nutrition.

Answer 3

I never thought about it that way, but it does seem right. I was a lil fattie when I was a kid, and besides not being able to do a lot of things other kids did because of my weight, I was pretty much tortured by my classmates on a daily basis well into High School.
I was lucky, I managed to get down to a normal weight as an adult, but a lot of obese children grow up to be obese adults. Not learning proper eating habits and being sedintary your whole life will definitely cause health problems that nobody would want to wish on their children.
As far as making it child abuse in the eyes of the law, I know that will never happen (not in America at least) because people will say that it's discriminatory, or they'll just deny that there even is a problem.

Answer 4

Hmm, what an interesting question.

I think it would depend entirely on the background of the children in question. Because it is so hard to understand why a certain person can weigh what they do, I don't think a law like the one for dogs would ever fit for humans. Its just too complicated.

Sure, it may seem obvious that if a kid is given three meals a day from McDonalds they are, in some way, being abused, but what if a child is morbidly obese and CONSTANTLY on a diet? What if he or she has an uncaught thyroid condition or some such medical condition? Should he or she be taken away from his or her parents because of something they cannot control?

Also, anorexics are not taken away from their parents [most of the time]. If obesity was pronounced a form of child abuse, wouldn't letting a child be TOO skinny also be child abuse? And if so, wouldn't, eventually, the only children not considered abused be the "perfect" weight for their height?

Answer 5

If the obesity was from lack of excersise and overeating then the answer is YES!

If it is something that is medically wrong then treatment should be found.

There were very few obese people in the 40's and 50's and early 60's.

Fast food, too many electronic can openers, choppers and shreddres, sit down mowers and digital entertainment have replaced:

whipping whipped cream with a hand held beater
squeezing orange juice by hand
mowing the lawn with a rotary push mower
walking around the neighborhood in the evening
eathing healthy foods.
etc.

That's what I think :)

Answer 6

It depends on why the child is obese. You can't accuse a parent of abuse if they just have big kids, and there are some kids that are just big. I can't see kids eating junk food all the time, it's just plain unhealthy. At the same time, unless a parent is forcing a child to eat and not letting them get exercise, there's no way it's abuse. Schools are just as much to blame. They don't get recess like they used to. PE is on a very limited basis....in some areas, only 2 days a week. Also, the menus at school aren't the healthiest. I know here, fruits and vegetable are an option on a student's plate. So, you have to look at it realistically. You can't accuse parents of abuse with that going on in schools. There's enough real abuse of many kinds out there without adding to it.

The other side of the coin, parents of extremely skinny kids could be considered abuse. There's parents that are so afraid their kids will be obese, that they don't feed them properly. That's just as much abuse.

Let's just let the kids be kids and worry about the real issues out there.

Answer 7

I've been preaching this for years.

Anybody who lets their kids get fat is unworthy of being a parent.
It creates health problems, social problems, self esteem problems, ALL problems.

The only advantage to becoming fat is that you give a fat girl a chance at love.

But the fat girl wouldn't exist if nobody let her get freaking fat!

I agree. People with fat children need to get their head examined, they gotta be educated, and then they getta fix the problem. For sure.

As far as animals go, however, I catually don't care much. Animals should have instincts about their own health and safety. They're not like kids who rely on their parents to survive. If a dog is dumb enough or greedy enough or slothful enough to get all fat and gross, then I'd say it's his own look out. I try all animals like adults.

Answer 8

In many cases, it would seem to be an indicator of possible neglect. However, it depends on the circumstances. The child might have a medical condition or there may be come other explanation. Laws and definitions on child abuse and neglect will vary from state to state, but parents should always encourage their children to eat right and get plenty of exercise.

Answer 9

Number one; before you start making judgment calls about others in your neighborhood regardless of what non nutritional food you've seen them with; you need to see what those children's home lives are like, are they with a babysitter while they are eating junk food, or do they actually have irresponsible parents that are too lazy too actually cook the child a meal. Not all children are born thin then develop baby fat, some children are pre dis positioned to being fat regardless of food issues, they may only eat good food and the occasional junk food and are still large. Don't judge a book by it's cover, read it to find out the information.

Answer 10

Hmm, there are a lot of things to consider. Maybe not abuse per se, but neglect could definitely be used to describe it. I think, if they serve healthy foods at home, but the kid eats too much of it, or it is a bit on the fat side (though still healthy: Like fat fish, nuts, avocado, dairy products etc), then no, not neglect or abuse in any way. Especially now that she is 9: It is only young children where the parents are 100% responsible for their diet. Perhaps they could improve their influence on her diet, but I don't think that would make them 'bad parents'. On the other hand, and this sounds like it might be the case, if they serve genuinely unhealthy foods for her, fried food, candy, sugar drinks etc. and just don't care to give her healthier food, and help her in general about weight issues, then I would call it neglect. She could also add malnutrition to her diet problems, and that is deff a sign of neglect. On the whole fat issue: I myself is a fat girl, and all for fat acceptance - People often say their 'problem' with fat people is just out of concern for their health, but I find the issues that fat people can face go well beyond 'concern for health', and I think THAT is the issue that 'fat acceptance' has to worry about - it's not about not losing weight (because I do encourage that), but one 'flaw' in health shouldn't be the defining characteristic to society. Also, you say it can lead to emotional problems: That is true, and that is a problem, because it shouldn't: again, if the negative attitude towards fat people was just concern, then it shouldn't do emotional damage - but it does, which points at that the "concern" is not well handled! Also, peoples concerns about the health of a fat person is sometimes in vain: There are plenty of fat people who never develop the problem associated with obesity. I participate in research at a hospital, and have there fore been tested for about every health concern there is: Diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart problems, all of that - and I am less in risk than the average person. My doctor sort of laughed at the fact that it seemed odd to pair with the title "morbid obese", as there is nothing morbid about my health condition. Back to parents role in that: I can't really grasp how young kids can be overweight, tbh... Like, why do the parents keep giving them food? I've never been skinny or anything, but I wasn't overweight until I was a teenager - because my parents did not neglect their responsibilities with my diet. Too bad I was still raised with habits which caused me to become fat. (my mom + grandmother etc is fat too, so even though they didn't serve me too much food when I was younger, there was still the idea that food makes everything better, hence why, when I got older and decided my amount of food myself, I tend to eat too much) I don't give much for the whole 'it's genetic'-bs. Sure, there can be some genetic factors, but I would say it can only be 10% of the reason why someone is fat. This turned into a long ramble... In short, yes, if parents are not doing their bid to keep their kids safe and healthy, then they are neglecting them.