Obesity Equal to Child Abuse

I just read an article about children in the UK being taken from their parents with the child's obesity being a primary factor in the decision. Here's the first half of the article (I've inserted the stone-to-pound conversions):

"One child had a BMI measurement of 35, which for a six-foot man would mean weighing 19st (266 pounds).

Britain's obesity epidemic, which sees NHS hospitals dealing with 1,000 cases every day, is a reversal of the traditional problem when children were undernourished. Increasingly social workers find youngsters being fed a high-fat, sugary diet, which can be just as bad for their health.

The phenomenon is known as "killing with kindness" because the child craves the unhealthy food and a loving parent feels unable to say no.

Professionals say they have to make complex decisions in care proceedings and a family's gross over-eating can be one of the factors that leads to them losing their children.

A Sunday Express survey of councils found that in the past year five children were taken from their families for that reason: two in Wake-field, West Yorkshire, one in Oxfordshire, one in Salford and one in Hounslow, London.

The previous 12 months saw five similar cases in Sheffield, Portsmouth, Lincolnshire, Slough and Harrow, London.

A social worker said: "Only in extreme cases would we take a child into care just because of their weight as we would seek to work with the family to improve their eating habits."

Ex-Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson warned in 2006 that health chiefs would look at removing children from their families if they became super-sized, risking their health.

The first reported case took place in 2007 when an eight-year-old girl from Cumbria, who had to wear size 16 clothes, was taken into care weighing 10st (140 pounds)."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

 

I know obesity has gotten pretty bad (I'm one of those obese people myself), but I was aware that the thought of 'facilitating' obesity being child abuse / neglect had become mainstream enough for people to start getting their children taken from them. Then again, if it is the parent's responsibility to take care of the child in an appropriate manner, the child being obese definitely isn't doing that. 

I think a lot of parents just believe that as long as they give their child everything that they want, especially if they actually have the financial resources to do so, they are taking care of their children. But, they still seem to usually be able to draw lines at certain places that might lead to harm to the child such as trying to jump off of the roof and fly like a comic book character.

It might be helpful if the parents were able to understand just how much physical danger they are putting their children in over the long run, even though it seems like they are being loving towards their children by giving them the unhealthy things to eat that they want. Then again, I guess if it's so hard for adults to discipline themselves enough to not become obese, it can be just as difficult to try to guide someone else towards eating in a healthier manner.

I've always thought that it would be nice to have a program available that actually pays people to lose weight. For instance, if we could calculate that I save this country $500 in medical costs for every pound that I lose, why not give me $50 of those dollars? Can you imagine how much weight people would lose if they were actually paid decent money to do it? Extra bonuses could be added for attending various fitness classes and dietary education courses in order to help encourage people not to lose weight in unhealthy ways (like starvation or using certain drugs). Also, it would be great if there were a lower limit for the feat. That way, people don't keep losing weight forever and ever until they're pure skin and bone. Based on their weight, height, sex, and age, once they reach their appropriate weight, they are no longer eligible for compensation. The same thing would go for the other end of the spectrum as well. You can only get money for weight that you lose from the time you register, so you won't get money for re-losing five pounds that you've regained.

Just a thought. What are yours?