Are parents who let their children become obese guilty of child abuse?

[Tokis-Phoenix]

So basically it's all the parents fault, why not just write that.

Well i have said numerous times in this thread that its the parents responsibility to feed their kids a good diet so when they don't do this it is their fault if their kids suffer because of the parents lack of responsibility etc. The bulk of what a kid eats is going to be food their parents provide them with.

Do you disagree with any of this?

 

[Mitsuo]

I think it depends on the situation. If a parent did not care about their child's diet one would really have to question their parenting skills and even perhaps their intentions. If a parent is aware of the child's obesity problem and does nothing about it, then I would have to say that it is in fact abuse/negligence, in my opinion. The best thing for a parent to do in this situation is to observe the child's eating habits. Like what time they eat, what they eat, the quantity, etc, and take their kid to a doctor. It could definitely be a medical problem. Though, more often than not it is due to the parents supplying the child with unhealthy choices. It's always good to instill good habits in your children, so practicing healthy eating habits is a must. I'm not a parent so I can't speak on behalf of them or from experience, but the parent has the obligation to the child's health. It's not the child's fault if he/she is fat. The child is only going to imitate what they see, which could be their parents eating junk foods and other unhealthy habits. So again, I guess it depends on the situation. If the parents are in the knowing of their child's obesity problem and they do nothing about it, then yes it's abuse. However, some parents may not be aware of a problem. They might even consider it normal. But in any case, it's the parents fault. It's the parent's job to do everything that they can to ensure that their children maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Also, I don't see how Tokis-Phoenix's personal attractions are relevant to this thread, Goldiegirl. You are finding offense where none is intended. That being said....it's not rude that she's unattracted to overweight people. People are attracted to certain human characteristics for the same reasons why they like the color blue over red or find one joke funnier than another. Attraction is not intentional.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah i agree with Mitsuo, thanks for understanding where i am coming from/my points etc in this debate .

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have some news updates on the subject at hand which i think are relevant to this debate;

"Almost one in four five-year olds and one in three 11-year olds is overweight or obese, according to the national child measurement programme";

Full story;

BBC NEWS | Health | Child obesity 'a major problem'

"Campaigners said awareness of what was a "normal weight" needed to improve."

"The latest figures from the 876,416 children weighed show 22.9% of those in reception (aged four to five) and 31.6% of those in year six (aged 10-11) are overweight or obese."

"Our perception of weight has changed. We're looking at overweight children and not seeing them as overweight.

"The reason we have these figures is because being overweight is a health risk - we should be paying more attention."

"It's a serious and major problem."


"Obesity needs to be tackled in the same way as climate change, a top nutritional scientist has said";

Full story;

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Obesity 'requires climate plan'

"He commented: "This is a community epidemic that is actually a response to all the wonderful apparent industrial and economic development changes that we've seen, with a collapse in the need for physical activity, and now a targeting of children to make profits by big industry in food and drink.

"We have to change that, and it will not come unless we have a coherent government-led strategy. The issue is: have we got the political will?""

"Ten percent of the world's children are either overweight or obese, twice as many as the malnourished, said Professor James."

"They're disadvantaged from birth, their academic achievement is impaired, their earning power is diminished, and they almost certainly have a life expectancy which is less than that of their parents."

"Because these children start off being born small, they are then exposed to totally inappropriate environments, and they are therefore super-sensitive."

"The obesity epidemic won't go away simply because people switch to skimmed milk from whole milk," she said.

"They need to substantially cut their calories and boost their physical activity to get to a healthy weight - and keep minding the scale once they do."







These two new recent news articles in particular only makes me believe even more than parents need to be taking far more responsibility over their children's diets and lifestyles.

IMHO, a parent should the best for their child, a parent should try to give their child the best chances/prospects in life, so when their kids leave the nest so to speak, they their whole life ahead of them and one that is full of opportunities and good prospect etc.
I don't think a parent who lets their child become obese is full-filling this role those (no pun intended)- the worse the obesity epidemic gets and the more we research the problems of obesity and linked to it, the more grimmer the picture of our children's future appears.
I do not think it is nanny state of me to expect parents to feed their kids responsibly and take more responsibility over what their kids eat.


It is not just an issue for parents and families though- this is an issue of society. Obesity is threatening our society, particularly our health services, and is this not an exaggeration. The cost of the health problems that obese people make themselves prone to is causing a severe strain on our health services, and the weight of societies obesity problems could quite literally cripple our health services;

"Hospitals in England and Wales are refusing referrals for obesity operations on costs grounds, a snapshot survey of doctors suggests.";

Full story;

BBC NEWS | Health | NHS 'limiting obesity operations'

"In the past five years, there has been a 650% rise in referrals for obesity surgery in some areas, Pulse said.

Some 12 of the 20 consultants quizzed said their units were struggling to cope with the rise in numbers, with half sending patients back to GPs."

"Professor John Baxter, president of the British Obesity Surgery Society, added: "To say there's underfunding is a massive understatement. It's appalling. There should be a public inquiry in my view.""





Alcohol and tobacco get taxed a great deal to help pay for the health problems they cause in society. Smokers get in particular taxed a massive deal (much more than what is necessary) and a lot of the excess tax is being put towards other non-smoking related issues in the NHS, and ever more increasingly these issues are obesity related.

Right now people who are obese pay no tax whatsoever for their condition and fatty foods do not get any extra tax either etc. But something needs to be done about the problem- the NHS desperately needs money to help pay for the health problems caused by obesity, but so far unlike smokers and drinkers, obese people are not contributing any money in particular to pay for their health problems.
I don't know what the solution is, its all very controversial, but something needs to be done about it- the NHS needs money, if fat people don't pay for their health problems, then everyone who relies on the NHS suffers for the lack of money it has, regardless of whether they are fat or not.