do some parents just not care that there children are overweight?

Question

I realy worry about junk food ect my daughter is a little dot and is not that bothered about food.If she got big i would realy worry about her.How people can let there kids get fat i will never know.Do you class it as abuse ?

It would appear that some people are being very defensive about what they feed there kids!!!

I'm not vain just concerned about my childs health and some people don't care if fat was healthy i would not mind if my daughter got fat.As it's not i would hate her to be fat

Answer 1

Some children are naturally overweight, because of genetics. However, most of the children that you see that are overweight or obese are fed the wrong diet and allowed to lay around all day. I don't class it as abuse, but it is pretty stupid to let it go that far.

Answer 2

There are so many reasons that both children and adults are putting on weight. It isn't as simple as parents not caring. You care about your little "dot" don't you?? Well fat children's parents in most cases care too. And educating them is part of the drama involved in the weight problems in the first place. You imagine when you are telling your precious little "dot" not to eat this or that because it is fatttening. What they are learning is that food is a bad thing and that it is the enemy. Which is why so many teenagers and children even younger are getting eating disorders. Because they are scared of getting fat. So the dieting and staving and wrong eating habits begin. And anorexa is just as dangerous and destructive as being fat.
They hear it in the media , in the street, on tv, eat this, don't eat that. To celebrate, food is the tool-people party or eat out.. Go to the movies,and they eat fattening snacks while sitting there. Go to the mall and what do people do for entertainment-they eat. Food is not a necessity in many peoples lifes these days .You go out on a date, and eat,every thing revolves around food.
Although there may be ignorant parents who just don't take a lot of attention,most aren't as blind or stupid as that.
It is so easy to be opinionated when you have not been in a situation. Try living in these peoples shoes and then see how easy it is!! And tread carefully how you teach your little daughter about sensible eating habits and be especially careful when she is at school around all her dieting friends. Because so much of the problem involved in eating disorders happens when dieting becomes a way of life. And it is not always the fat kids who resort to dieting. Look into the statistics of dieting. What works, what doesn't etc. And look into how many new diets are heard of and how many people try them ,just to find they failed all over again. Live a situation before dissing it!! Your little dot might not get fat,but who's to say whether she will get anorexa or some other eating disorder. Or that she won't smoke or take drugs.
It is not always as simple as it appears.
I don't like seeing fat children either. Because I really feel for these kids.But it is not as simple as "how could the parent let that happen!!"
PS// Do you think parents of fat kids wouldn't worry?? But worry doesn't solve anything!!

Answer 3

I think they care, they just don't know what to do. I'm 31y/o, 330 pounds, but I'm 6'5 and cover up a lot of it. Personally I think it's the childs responsibility. Turn the TV off, scratch that, throw the TV away, get out and do something. Read books, fly a kite, ride a bike, anything. I say books because I believe it could be a internal problem, a self esteme problem, good books will help with this, gaurenteed.

The Magic of Thinking Big
Schwartz

Attitude Is Everything
Keller

The Psychology of Winning
Waitley

Wild at Heart
Eldridge

How to Win Friends & Influence People
Carnegie

How to Have Power & Confidence in Dealing with People
Giblin

Bringing Out The Best In People
McGinnis

The Servant
Hunter

Personality Plus
Littauer

The Five Love Languages
Chapman

Cashflow Quadrant
Kiyosaki

Wooden
Wooden

Eat That Frog
Tracy

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
Maxwell

Developing the Leader Within You
Maxwell

These are all awesome books and will blow your mind. If you need any more recomendations, contact me, my user name at yahoo dot com.

Answer 4

You are being very general there.

Parents don't always let their children get fat. I have two daughters, they have been brought up exactly the same. My husband is super fit, I am average, very slightly overweight, but not by much. We don't eat fast food, or cooked chill food from supermarkets. Everyhting we eat is cooked fresh with plenty of veg. One daughter is normal weight for her age. The other is off the scale. She's had every test, been prodded and poked by numerous doctors over the years, who just reckon, that she doesn't metabolise her food very well, the problem is that she requires a certain amount of calories and foodtypes per day for her growth, but because she doesn't actually require all this for her energy, (she's quite active) the rest is stored as fat. She was overweight from shortly after birth, although her birth weight was 7lb 3oz. She is now 21 and has tried various diets to see if she can lose some of the pounds, but nothing has ever worked. This is the way she is made, and nothing appears to be able to change that.

Answer 5

No, I don't think obese children should be removed from their parents care except maybe in VERY VERY extreme cases where the child's life is in imminent danger, unless there was some other type of problem in the home (like severe emotional, physical or sexual abuse). I think most obesity is due to a lack of education about nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle...perhaps even a lack of money (if you live in a poor, crime ridden neighborhood, you might discourage your children from playing outside for example)...and even though it can obviously be a serious problem, I don't think it justifies putting children in foster care since (like you stated) this type of environment can often have negative psychological effects that outweigh the negative effects of obesity. I've heard of studies done where children are more often better off with their biological parents than in foster care, except in cases where there was EXTREME physical/emotional/sexual abuse or neglect going on in the home, so I believe fostercare should be a very last resort when children have problems. Besides, childhood obesity is way too common nowadays to even consider taking children away in these instances since the fostercare system is pretty overwhelmed as it is (in my opinion). I think public education about nutrition and perhaps some type of financial incentive to enable/encourage people to eat healthier (and in more moderation)/exercise more would be a much better way to combat this growing problem (no pun intended). Unfortunately, fresh fruits and vegetables are often more expensive/less available than high calorie/high fat processed foods, which I think is why obesity is increasingly common, especially amoung the economically disadvantaged.

Answer 6

Some kids will be pre-disposed to being overweight due to genetics, poor diet, poor exercise regime, poor working class background.

Many cases now suggest that due to both parents having to work, the natural progression has been towards pre-prepared foods. Unfortunately these are not that good for the kids. You have to feel sorry for the parents of kids who pick on them at the weakest (just finished work) and badger them for food. It's the easy option for a lot of parents.

Being the parent of three, who luckily have active sports and social lives, I know how easy it is just to say "lets have take-out tonight", instead of cooking them a wholesome nourishing and tasty meal.

Answer 7

your daughter is a little dot? what is that?

Let's see, we are assaulted daily by all forms of media about food, on the TV, the radio, billboards, in magazines. The most expensive food in the grocery store is the healthiest food. You go out to eat in a restaurant and you get HUGE portions that cannot be finished in one sitting. Our food is radiated, poisoned, meat is full of hormones. Ever wonder why babies are born so big and about 30 years ago a 10 lb baby was out of the ordinary? Think hormones, antibiotics. Who knows what effect that has on the thyroid, liver, whatever?

Saying that parents don't care about their kids being overweight is a gross generalization. How do you know what they think? You haven't walked in their shoes. I notice a lot of people on here don't talk about having children of their own. Maybe when your little "dot" is a teenager you'll think differently---you can't control every single thing they do every minute of the day. Get some compassion or educate yourself. Kindness goes a lot further than being judgemental.

Answer 8

i worry about this a lot. i was at my friends the other day she has a 2 year old my son is 10 months she gave my son a cadbury mini roll. i took it off him as i don't really want him eating too much junk i think she thought i was mad but i'd much rather he had veg or cheese or a slice of toast for a snack. but a little bit of junk won't kill him. and a lot of overweight people can't lose the weight for medical reasons.

Answer 9

we live in a fast food nation. People don't make time to have sit down family dinners and also people just give their kids alot of processed food. I don't think alot of people realize what they are eating.
I hate to see a kid overweight-it is setting them up for a lifetime of unhealthy diseases and misery. I wouldn't say it's "abuse" but it isn't right.

I make sure my daughter has a healthy meal every night, we don't eat out alot, we never have fast food, she always has veggies and fruit. There is barely ever junk food or soda in my house.
More people should care what goes into their kid's mouth!

Answer 10

in some cultures they consider it a good thing to be overweight... (such as many Latin Americans)... and in many neighborhoods parents see so many children overweight that it begins to register as normal! More than 1/4th of the children in our nation are overweight... so you may never know how.. but it happens... and a lot... a large part of the problem is time and knowledge... many parents don't know how to make a good meal.. others just don't have time.. so they stop at on the way home... that sort of thing.