Should severely obese children be taken from parents?

[ohiosmith]

By Katherine Hobson


When parents are physically harming their kids, the state can step in and remove them from the home. Should that happen if a child is severely obese?

A commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association says it should be considered, but only “in carefully selected situations.”

The two authors, Lindsey Murtagh of the Harvard School of Public Health and David S. Ludwig of Children’s Hospital Boston, say that in most cases, overweight and obese kids will have a chance to improve their health as adults. (About 16% of kids aged 10 to 16 were obese in 2007, according to government stats.)

But, they write, the health consequences for the most severely obese children –defined as a body mass index at or above the 99th percentile, which includes about 2 million kids — can be “immediate and potentially irreversible.” Mostly, they’re referring to type 2 diabetes, which can become permanent and set kids up for cardiovascular disease. One obesity treatment option, gastric bypass surgery, carries the risk of serious complications and its long-term effectiveness isn’t known, the authors write.

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/07/13/reader-consult-should-severely-obese-kids-be-taken-from-their-parents/

[Bake]

1. No. In fact, hell no.

We're not a nanny state yet.

Bake

[Incitatus]

2. Oh, this is an article for GD.

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[BlueIris]

3. That sounds like a straight route to a flamewar. nt

[ohiosmith]

5. Please don't send me to GD. I'll be good. Honest I will. PLEASE!

:cry:

[Xithras]

4. Depends on why they're obese.

If it's just a general lack of exercise, then no. We don't take kids away because simply because their parents suck.

If they're obese because their parents are abusive...and certain kinds of mental abuse certainly qualify, then they should absolutely be taken away. For example, people who scream at their kids because they don't eat every...single...bite, even though the kid is full, should probably have their kids taken away if the result of that verbal abuse is weight problems.

[KamaAina]

6. So basically, no. Not simply for being obese.

But for being abused, as we already do.

[LynneSin]

7. I blame NCLB for this problem

Back when I was in school - we had 50 minutes of gym class twice a week. It was a requirement for every student. Eliminating the time you spend getting changed - you had about 35-40 of exercising twice a week, which for some kids might be the only exercise they get.

But because the "No Child Left Behind" act stresses doing well on these dumbass standardized testings - many schools eliminated gym in order to provide extra study time for the kids.

Personally I think NCLB should be dumped and instead bring back Gym Class although this time make it 3 times a week.

If kids could get 30 minutes 3 times a week - we would do serious impact into lowering the number of kids who are have childhood obsesity.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. maybe.

[outerSanctum]

9. Abso-fuckin-lutely

This is as much child abuse as anything I can think of. If these lard ass parents want to keep shoving the twinkies in their own face, that's one thing. But, turning your kid into a giant tub of goo is horrible abuse that will follow him his/her entire life.