Obese Kids Shouldn't Be Removed From Their Parents' Home

on July 17, 2011 at 8:44 PM

childhood obesity game Recently, some intellectuals in Boston suggested that fat kids be removed from their homes and placed in foster care.Harvard professor Lindsey Murtagh and Boston Children’s Hospital child obesity specialist Dr. David Ludwig wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association “State intervention is in the best interest of children whose lives are threatened by their obesity.”

It’s hard to decide where to begin, so I’ll just jump right in.

What is wrong with our society? We outlaw tag, red rover, and dodge ball, gut physical education programs, tell parents not to let their kids play outside because they might get sun damaged or kidnapped, and then we sit around and wonder why more kids are overweight than ever before?

The authors cite several times the difficulty some parents have in controlling their children’s weight. Single mom Jerri Gray (who lost custody of her 555-pound 14-year-old son two years ago) said, "I was always working two jobs so we wouldn't end up living in ghettos." She said she didn’t have time to cook, so she would buy her son fast food.

A pound of peaches costs $1.99 at my local grocery store this week. A Big Mac costs $2.99. Call me crazy, but a 14-year-old is perfectly capable of pitching in and making dinner for mom and himself. He could be taught some basic, easy recipes over a weekend, and take pride in a new skill and in helping out his mom.

Even if the Grays stayed at McDonald’s, no one forced them to order the super-sized fries. It’s impossible to become obese eating a grilled chicken sandwich, apple slices, and low-fat milk for dinner.

As parents, it’s our job to take care of our kids and teach them healthy habits. Sometimes people are going to fail miserably at that, but we can’t pin anti-abuse laws on every parenting decision we disagree with. Those laws protect children from violent and abusive homes, but last time I checked, obesity wasn’t a crime. Although, has anyone read Obamacare cover-to-cover? There might be some anti-obesity law in there, which would be funny, because it would totally conflict with every anti-inflammatory law on the books. Can’t be calling people fat and hurting their feelings, now can we?

Removing obese children from their homes reminds me of a certain story about letting a camel stick his cold nose under the tent flap. Before you realize it, the whole camel is in there with you spitting and stinking up the place. Redefining abuse to include over-feeding could lead to other redefinitions as well. What if the state decides that I’m psychologically harming my children by indoctrinating them with religion? Or that their emotional well-beings are at stake because they occasionally get spanked? When does it end?

These are my kids, and I have the right to decide what they eat, how they play, where they worship, how they are educated, what they watch on TV, and anything else that falls under the parenting umbrella. I would never deny another parent the same right, no matter how much I may disagree with their choices.

Image via Arenamontanus/Flickr

Filed Under: human rights, in the news, obesity, kid health, health

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Comments (61)

Nonmember comment from Tiffany

on Jul 17, 2011 at 8:54 PM

Do you really have to make EVERY article about politics? I get it, you are a conservative, you don't like Obama, blah blah blah. I used to like this site but between you and a few other really needlessly catty and offensive writers on here I think I am going to stop reading this site.

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SpikedMango

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:08 PM

I agree with you. Keep the government out of our personal lives!

starlight1968

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:17 PM

omg the first person that tries to take an obese child out of their home should be shot!! Sounds stupid right? well the whole thing is stupid. Sigh why don't we just change our name from USA to USSR...

JAFE

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:24 PM

YAY Jenny. I couldn't agree more. @ Tiffany, this is about politics. They make these stupid laws.

Facebook comment from Crystal Lutes

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:25 PM

Love it!

ingridity

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:34 PM

I think the crazy thing about suggesting we take obsese kids away from their parents is really the idea that this is the "only" solution we can come up with to solve this problem. What if instead of traumatizing the whole family with separation - we instead "force" them to attend educational seminars on how to prepare nutritious food quickly and easily? Strategies on helping you and your child both lose weight. Things like that... it's not like putting kids in foster care is a "cheaper" solution than doing an educational program. Foster care costs many thousands of dollars, and would completely traumatize these kids and parents.

on Jul 17, 2011 at 9:54 PM

I agree ingridity. The trauma alone to an obese child to not only be obese but to be separated from everything they know is beyond horrible. I say we teach people "how" to shop and "how" to change instead of splitting up a family. How sad is that? How do you think a child who's 14 and over 500 pounds already feels??? They'll feel like everything is their fault. NO NO NO!!! We can NOT separate these kids from their families. It's so wrong.

Nonmember comment from Anon

I agree, with the possible exception of cases where it's a serious medical problem that's causing the obesity. Even then, intervention would be appropriate only if it could be established that the parents were neglectful as opposed to believing in an alternative approach to the problem (e.g., alternative medicine). And the intervention should be an injunction for the parent to do something, not separating the kid from the parent. ... Some "smart" people really can't think past their noses. Do they have any idea how damaging it is to separate a child from his mother? It should only be done in cases where the parent is intentionally hurting the child. ... Strange, to take away a 14yo when such an old child is big enough to largely make his own decisions on his eating. So they think the kid is going to suddenly switch to fruit, veggies, and yogurt when he finds himself in a foster home?

on Jul 17, 2011 at 10:03 PM

I have to chuckle, though - in a sad way - because if you try putting your kid on a diet, you risk being accused of neglect for that, too. When my kid was 10mo, she was demanding too much formula and getting chubby. So I mentioned that I was watering down the formula a bit - and all hell broke loose. Just this year, at age 4, she finally has a really good height-weight ratio - and that is after carefully and continuously managing her diet and exercise for over 3 years. Well, the guidelines tell parents not to put little kids on diets, but then once the kids get on the radar for being obese, do they expect the parents to make them skinny overnight, now that they have less control over their diet than ever? The whole thing is f'd up. If parents hadn't been conditioned to intervene only when the doctor or teacher says so (which is always after things are out of control), maybe they'd be more proactive.

Freela

on Jul 17, 2011 at 10:53 PM

I don't generally agree with this blogger... but in this case I do agree. Except for the Obamacare comment... for the record, I live in Canada where we've had publically funded health care since the 1960s and believe it or not, we are still allowed to be overweight, just like in the US.