Fat children ‘should be taken from parents’ to curb obesity epidemic

[spindrifter]

From The Times
August 16, 2008

Grossly overweight children may be taken from their families and put into care if Britain’s obesity epidemic continues to escalate, council chiefs said yesterday.

The Local Government Association argued that parents who allowed their children to eat too much could be as guilty of neglect as those who did not feed their children at all.

The association said that until now there had been only a few cases when social services had intervened in obesity cases. But it gave warning that local councils may have to take action much more often and, if necessary, put obese children on “at risk” registers or take them into care. It called for new guidelines to be drawn up to help authorities deal with the issue.

<snip>

The association called for a national debate on how much local authorities should intervene in obesity cases. As a basic minimum, social services or health visitors should talk to the families involved, give them advice and show them how to provide healthy meals. “But in the worst cases would need to be put on ‘at risk’ registers or taken into care.”

<more>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4543279.ece

[cynatnite]

1. Ugh!

Note to self: Don't move to Britain.

[spindrifter]

5. Unfortunately, they seem to be

on the cutting edge of a lot of stuff that we end up accepting--CCTV all over the place, ASBO's, stripping people of civil rights in order to "investigate."

[fujiyama]

23. What are ASBOs?

Britain is pretty much a police state now. I would also advise anyone to avoid using Heathrow airport. God awful mess. Crowded as hell. Security personnel there is very rude and arrogant.

The worse part is, we're just a step or two behind them. But we're doing our damndest to catch up...

[spindrifter]

25. Anti-social behavior orders

See, if your behavior doesn't meet the neighbors' expectations, they can petition for an ASBO to restrain you from doing whatever it is they don't like. Let's say you like to sing in the shower but the neighbor doesn't appreciate it...off he goes to get his ASBO and you are music-less!

[LeftishBrit]

26. At least, not till you learn how to see through our right-wing press!

No one is planning to take overweight kids in general into care - apart from anything else, the government doesn't have the financial resources to do so. In fact, there aren't the resources to look after many of the children who really are abused or neglected.

This was a particular individual talking about the hypothetical situation of children with life-threatening levels of obesity - which is just as much a potentially fatal eating disorder as its opposite, anorexia.

There *are* real threats to civil liberties in Britain today, but this isn't one of them.

[ccharles000]

2. OMG

[bertman]

3. If we did that in Merka, it'd sink the ship of state for damn sure.

I can feel it listing to one side right now.

[LisaL]

14. They'd have to open big orphanages for fat children.

Good god.

[SoCalDem]

19. REALLY big orphanages

:spank:

[cliffordu]

22. Does this orphanage make my ass look huge??

[bertman]

34. You guys are killing me. ROFLMAO.

[CreekDog]

4. So instead of running away, kinds can just eat lots of Big Macs

:hide:

[mitchum]

6. Then they won't be able to run anywhere

[CreekDog]

9. and won't need to

:think:

(the preceding snark does not represent my own opinion)

[flvegan]

7. Teach nutrition.

Both in the UK and in the USA. Shit, when I graduated high school, I could make a clock and a shirt, do long math, recite the Declaration of Independence and rule at dodgeball.

Had no idea how to feed myself though.

[The Straight Story]

8. Don't give lawmakers in CA ideas

they have this thing about making the lives of people better through government intervention and regulation.

[SheilaT]

10. I have become more and more convinced

that there's some kind of a viral connection to the current obesity epidemic. Yeah, laugh, but for years everyone thought that ulcers were a result of life style. Turns out many of them were viral. And so with obesity. The current spread really resembles a viral spread to me.

Which does not completely absolve anyone from overeating, which is still an important factor. But why do so many people overeat? Why is it that a normally thin person (say a BMI of 19 or 20) look abnormally thin anymore? Why is it that seeing morbidly obese people is no longer uncommon?

A while back I saw a photo of a high school class on a swim outing, taken in 1965. And to me the most amazing thing about the photo was that no one was even fat, let alone obese. It's a real indicator of how much things have changed.

And while I do believe firmly in personal responsibility, I really think there is more going on than simple lack of will power.

[shugah]

13. not viral necessarily but there are factors that contribute (HFCS)

personal responsibility is one thing - the fact that there is high fructose corn syrup in the bread you buy at the grocery store to make a PBJ for your kids for lunch is something else. HFCS as an ingredient in so many food products (why?), growth hormones and antibiotics in you dairy, pesticides and genetic modifications in your fruits and veggies...

what we call food these days isn't the same as what we were eating in 1965.

[NashVegas]

37. Huge Lifestyle Changes, Poor Civic Planning for Suburban Bedroom Communities

1. Centrally located "Big box" retailers/plazas/malls means no walking 1-4 blocks to the neighborhood grocer / drug store / pizza parlor / candy store /playground ...etc.

2. Lack of sidewalks

3. Television / internet/ video games have replaced all or most physical activity for an astonishing number of children, teens, and young adults.

4. Home-prepped, fresh meals replaced by processed boxed food.


Of the four, only one can be attributed to poor parenting, and one can be attributed to head of household priorities. But then, any kid over the age of 8 or 9 should be responsible enough to handle themselves well in a kitchen, if properly trained. The other two, which play a much larger part, IMO, are something that communities have to get off their collective asses about.

[madeline_con]

11. Unsafe Neighborhoods Linked to Overweight Children

This could SO be turned around on policy makers.

Unsafe Neighborhoods Linked to Overweight Children

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 4 - Parents who keep their children indoors to avoid the hazards of a dangerous neighborhood may be setting the kids up for another kind of trouble -- obesity.


So says a study published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics. Researchers reported that seven-year-olds whose parents rated their neighborhoods the most unsafe were at a higher risk of being overweight compared with the children of parents who thought their neighborhoods were relatively safe (adjusted odds ratios, 4.43; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-9.65).


http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Parenting/tb/2428

[ColbertWatcher]

20. I would agree with this. n/t

[fujiyama]

27. This can't be a surprise to anyone

Also considering that children in unsafe neighborhoods generally have parents with little time or skills to cook, and eat a lot of fast food...and of course, this is a set up for obesity.

[AndyTiedye]

12. Bring Back the Raves! Let the People Dance!

Dancing is very good exercise.

The UK did not have such an obesity problem with its youth during the '90s.
Neither did we. Why? Because the kids were dancing their asses off, literally!


LET THE PEOPLE DANCE!

[ChazII]

17. Good idea

Replace smelly PE classes with Dance classes in middle and high schools.

[NashVegas]

38. We Outlawed Dance Music

By mocking it at every opportunity until only the most crass commercialists and Moby and sometimes Beck are willing to work in that genre.

[AndyTiedye]

39. The "Entertainment" Industry Regards Dancing as Competition

Raves, psytrance parties and the like are entirely too participatory for their liking.
They would vastly prefer having us sit at home and watch TV.
They got their way for the most part.

[NashVegas]

40. Interesting Point

and I don't mean that in an insulting way ...

[noamnety]

15. Maybe a good first step in the US

would be for the government to stop subsidizing high fructose corn syrup for soft drinks.

Crazy idea, huh?

[LeftyMom]

16. Read the damned article.

It's talking about severe neglect cases, not the random fat kid.

[JeanGrey]

30. Yeah like those 200 lb three year olds I see on Murray.

Those kids SHOULD be taken away.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. Why bother reading? n/t

[WhollyHeretic]

36. C'mon. That would take to much time

An uninformed opinion is just as valid as an informed opinion.

[npk]

18. If there were no fat children...

There would be no one to make fun of. :sarcasm:

[Popol Vuh]

21. Can't be having the future labor slaves, errr, I mean, "human resources"

Too fat to work or join the military now can we? C'mon get with the program people.

:sarcasm:

[Quantess]

24. Maybe they've got a point. Morbidly obese children ARE victims of poor parenting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the merely overweight children.
I mean, the super obese children who get overfed by someone.

[1]

28. see, i would never agree to anything like this. but then again i smoke...

so maybe i should agree to the persecution of the fat because its almost united in the persecution of me.

i never smoke in public. always at home. i never endanger any of you fine people. but i am always the object of your wrath.

fuck him. he's a smoker. do we need some more money? tax the shit out of him. screw him. he's a smoker.

when the govermant came for the smokers,
i remained silent;
i was not a smoker.

so maybe now its the fats chance to get screwed with.

maybe now i should derive the same pleasure from your plight. maybe we should tax fat? force you to quit your fat ways or pay...

hummm?

[Scout]

31. broad, bitter brush much? n/t

[woo me with science]

29. I see a lot of fat children reaching for a hamburger now

to quell their anxiety that the goverment will take them from their parents.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Gormy Cuss]

35. Speaking of fat children in need of state supervision...

Grovvy, that's not muscle weight.