Should the mother of the 218 pound child have lost custody?

Question

I'm from the United States and saw this news story last night. I know my country doesn't view either food or the human form in a healthy manner, and I'm curious whether your opinions differ from those of the people here I've talked to.

The child is under 10 years old.

Answer 1

Yes it is blatant child abuse, she knew she was feeding him pure junk food and should have the parenting skills to stop before now. How can she actually say she is a good mother - a good mother would feed her son correctly and not make him morbidly obese. He is set up for a life of diabetes, heart disease, strokes and bullying.

She should definetly go to parenting classes and healthy cooking classes. She is the adult and should be able to say no to her son before he endangered his life. She should have had him out and running about like normal kids do.

Answer 2

Wow. Tough one. There is a syndrome called Prader-Willie Syndrome that causes infants and children to be insatiably hungry. This lasts until adulthood and they honestly never feel full. Their parents have to lock their cabinets, and refridgerators. The kids will beg, lies, steal and cheat to get food. There is literally no cure or real treatment.

If the child has this illness, then I would say "no" custody should not be taken away. On the otherhand if this were due to neglect on behalf of the parent...I would say they would need family services to step in, but custody should still not be taken away. The family obviously needs help. For a child to get so obese there has to be something medically wrong in my opinion. The amount of food that must be consumed to gain and maintain 218 pounds is serious eating. I don't know how a child could eat so much intentionally.

Answer 3

The child's weight issue is definitely the mother's fault. I saw interviews with the mother and she said that when she tried to feed her obese son healthy foods, he would cry and scream and have a tantrum until she gave him the unhealthy foods that he wanted. No matter how much he cries, she should not have given in to him, he is only 8 and she is supposed to be the adult. He would be very upset for a few days and he may not eat very much but if she stuck to it, the son would eventually realise that his mum would not give in and he would begin to calm down. What she has done to him resorts to child abuse and I am disgusted that people like her are allowed to have children.

Answer 4

I read about this a few days ago. The mother never showed up for meetings for "help". She in unstable and the child needs a stable parent.

Yes, I agree that there are many people that dont care what they eat but I myslef, and alot of people I know do make healthy choices as far as food goes...it's not the whole country.

Answer 5

218lbs is very obese even for an adult. I dont know how old this child is.
Its mean and thoughless to allow your children to get so big. It is very unhealthy to to be at that weight and the kid probably already has diabetes,high cholesterol maybe high blood pressure and is heading for a slew of other things. The kid is being subjected to unfair treatment by her/his peers becaise of the weight , THE PARENTS shouldve been monitoring. Yes, I do think the child is being abused. Yes, I do think if the parents arent forced to teach their kids better eating habits, they have no business being parents. This goes way past a weekly trip to mcdonalds.
I saw a family the other day at Walmart. Two girls about 5 or 6. very big girls, the fat on the back of their knees twisted around the the front of their thighs. These poor girls are having a big choice made for them, they wont be able to slow down when they grow up and know better.

Answer 6

I dont think so, but I do strongly agree that some sort of intervention is needed. Whether the child is grossly obese because of genetics/biology or his mother still needs to be addressed. His HORRIBLE eating habits may be due to a ton of things and they will all need to be coached and helped to change this.
I think you'd hurt the child more if you took him away from his home. Wouldn't it cause him to overeat more, as a form of comfort since maybe that is how they have been taught to deal with emotions?

Answer 7

I would have to say yes on this one, unless of course there is a medical condition there is no reason a child of that age should way that much. The mother needs education on proper nutrition. This poor little boy probably has so many other health issues to deal with now because of his weight,

Answer 8

I dont think she should have lost custody of her son. I think that she needs to be educated and taught how to make her son eat healthy and her son needs to educated as well. I think that there should be strict monitoring of the home situation and that if there is not marked improvement than he should be removed.

All that has happened now is that they have removed a child from his home where he feels safe and then they are going to put him on a strict diet and its going to cause more emotional issues than the child already has.

Answer 9

Yes she should have lost custody for the sake of the child. The most important word in parenting is no. You are supposed to parent your children, not just be their friend. She blames everyone else but herself for his eating habits yet the child 'has' to snack - on chocolate or crisps every 20 minutes. I'm sorry but every child would snack every 20 minutes if their parents let them but you have to say no, not because you are trying to be mean but because it's your job as a parent to set the boundaries. So what if he wanted to start smoking at 8, would she let him because 'she hated to say no to him'. Where does it end?

Answer 10

the mother was inteviewed on the news and she said if he doesnt get the cakes and biscuits when he asks then he throws a wobbler and storms round the house slamming doors etc she shouldnt even be buying those things when the poor kid is in mortal danger., now, this is not very politically correct, but what he needs is a slapped ar.se! she needs to take responsibility for his health by not giving into tantrums for a quiet life. she needs her ars.e slapping too, the state of the house, they may be hard up but thats not a reason to have a dirty house. she was smoking over the food as she cooked it! minging! she claims to have depression, so what! get treatment for it !no wonder shes depressed ,her house is a midden!