Is obesity child abuse?

[eSineM]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/07/22/cb.obesity.crime.cnn

I think so.

[trujillo33]

I think it falls more under child neglect...a mother got charge with child neglect..something like that. Her son is i think 14 weights 530 lbs.

[lbeery]

I think in extreme cases it is, unless it is due to an untreatable medical condition.  Nowadays, with so much information available about obesity, ignorance of nutrition is no excuse.  I now live in an area where a large part of the population is, if not obese, then certainly able to hold down their end of the bench.  I wonder whether this is a regional attitude derived from a customary diet, or due to poverty and the fact that starches are cheaper than protien and vegetables or if people are not as "attuned" to body image here as they were in the large western city where I lived before.  I know that diabetes and joint ailments are high here too. What to you think is the leading cause of this overweight status of so many?

[HellRazor22]

No, It is not child abuse. Its closer to neglect then abuse.

[liljp617]

So basically everybody in the US food industry is abusing children?

There are responsibilities of a parent and there are responsibilities of the food industry.  The food industry is by no means keeping up their responsibilities, should the parents?  The amount of crap they shove into just about everything on grocery store shelves (to make it last longer, make it taste better, get more meat out of an animal, etc.) is the problem.  Parents feeding this junk to their children (and I'm not just talking about Twinkies, I'm talking about EVERYTHING) is just one small subset of the root problem.

[cowgirlx]

abuse, neglect, and just laziness. If they would get off their couches and take their kids to the park, they probably wouldn't put much weight on.  I personally have issues with getting my kids to come in to eat. At 9 and 10 they are very lean, but eat like little piggies. Then they go out and burn it off again.

[angietx]

I really think that depends on the child.  I know from personal experience.  My daughter, now 12 and at a good weight, was over weight for most of her years.  We did not feed her unhealthy foods at home but from age 4 til 11 she was overweight for her age and height.  No medical condition just she chose to eat unhealthy away from home.  She is now, wanting to be thinner so she is watching what she eats outside the home.  To see her today and to know what she looked like just a year ago you would think she
is sick.  She isnt.  She just wants to be healther, thinner and my thoughts, she wants to impress the boys. 

[anjasmommy]

In certain cases, I think it can be. With all the information out there now about nutrition and diseases, it is neglegent to keep shoving chicken nuggets in large amounts down your kids' throats. But I think it is 50% parents, 25% food industry, and 25% media. McDonalds alone, with its tasty food and its appealing commercials is pretty much teaching our kids to be fat! But as parents, we need to teach our kids healthy habits. apple slices instead of french fries!

[pigroxie]

Unless it is a medical condition, I believe it is child abuse. Many of my friends as a child were overweight but their parents worked with them to eat healthy foods and lose unneeded weight but there were a few who just ate whatever they wanted and their parents never cared. They thought they were the best treated children and so did everyone else at the time but they were the ones who always came home to an empty house and took care of themselves. I view that as neglectful child abuse.

[bananapudding]

I really would not say child abuse. A mother who lets  her,say, 2 year old get up to 200 pounds without helping them stay healthy should be very much a shame. The child is going to eat as long as you feed them. Mothers should take a good look at what they are feeding these kids these days.

[fazedx]

some of it is the parents fault, but most if it is the industrys. fast food, 7/11's, candy everywhere you go, vending machines, soda, etc. america makes it CONVENIENT to become obese.

[cowgirlx]

Alot of them are watching what mom and dad eat.  If it's not in the house, they can't get to it till they get older.  That way they atleast get a good start.  It just requires a little effort on the parents behalf.

[trop8cana]

I think that it is. I have a friend that is overweight and she has a 6 yr old son that is overweight. He weighs 142 lbs. and that's more than I weigh and I'm 29. I think that it's sad when your son thinks that it's a "trick" or some type of special stunt just to be able to get off of the floor and stand up. It's truely sad and how can you say something to a friend that doesn't see the problem? He has really bad asthma and can hardly play long. I think that she's not allowing him to be a child. Her way to keep her kids happy is to feed them whatever they want....it's sad though.

[liljp617]

Let's take the issue a step further:

If you support the idea that this is child abuse or neglect to the point that it's harming the child's well being, do you support the idea of the child being forcefully removed from the home by CPS?

[RewardCash]

Honestly, some parents take it in the perspective of that they are abusing their child if they don't eat when they want to or it can get out of hand. Examples: Child starts begging for certain foods that aren't nutricious, stealing food, crying or even throwing temper tantrums if not eating will slowly eat away at the parents right mind and they will let the eating go on. It's hard to decide on this.