Take them away from Their Parents Just because they are Obese? Really? ( a rant)

We have an overloaded foster care system and an overloaded juvenile prison system (in my state anyway) - so let's add thousands of more children! This is a great idea! We will take children out of their homes for that petty reason and put them in unstable homes! Let's give the government even more power to interfere in our personal lives! Besides being overcrowded, the system is low on money, so let us add to the strain! Ok seriously, this is ridiculous. How about this instead (if the law really just has to get involved), why not remove the tax credit the parents get for the child if the child really is obese for non-"can't help it" reasons? I am sure that would motivate parents more than taking their child away. In a way this proposal mocks the children who are taken away because of serious abuse. Making your kid fat isn't exactly on the same level as punching or even assaulting the kid. It's mocking the real victims here. This a horrible idea and I think it would hurt the obese kids even more than their parents fattening them up. Many of the kids that grow up in the foster care system come out with emotional baggage and in some cases physical scars. Do we really need to subject more children to this? There is no reason to remove a fat kid from home if the home is otherwise stable. It is a serious problem but this is not the way to deal with it. Besides what is going to stop the next home from overfeeding the child?

And it's not just parents' fault. There is a huge issue in the States about discipline. If someone doesn't like the way you discipline your children, they'll call the police and report you for abuse. So because of that there are so many parents who are afraid to do anything but let their children run the show. So when that kid refuses to eat anything but junk, it's either let them eat the junk or don't eat anything (which can also be seen as abuse...seeing the pattern here?). But at the same time, school lunches are not healthy. And bullying has grown to such an extreme that anyone susceptible to being bullied spend all their activity time (be it gym or recess) hiding out in the bathroom or supply closet where the bullies can't find them. So, putting all the blame on the parents is not fair at all. What's the saying? It takes a village to raise a child?

From everything that I have read, (a few articles from different news sources), this is a last resort kind of action. It is after they have educated and worked with the parent and the parents still refuses to help the child or keep up with doctors appointments and maintaining a nutritious diet for the child. In the few cases where this has already happened, it was deemed neglect on the part of the parents and the child was removed to another family member's custody, not to some foster home. I am not saying it is right, but neither is letting this children to grow up to be obese adults and being a drain on the already broken health care system.

I agree. Why should we let the children suffer? Who's fault is it that they are obese in the first place? Taking them away from their own home will only cause trauma to the child and might produce more psychological problems rather than fixing the problem of obesity. Or maybe we should blame the government for allowing the distribution of unhealthy food(it's too much though). But i think that it really should start with the parents. What we feed our child since they were babies are what's causing the obesity. It's a matter of being a responsible parent.

So, if they take them away, where will they put them. this is all those radicals that do not want what they do not like. If they had their chance, they would eliminate us like hitler eliminated the jews. It's sick thinking. They do not want fat people because they have to pay medical insurance for those that are and they want to just keep all the money. So by getting rid of fat kids or adults for that matter, they will gain. You're right, getting the parents involved is the right way to do it. Start teaching good eating habits.

That's really dumb. Why would take a fat kid away from their parents? If anything their parents should get help in finding a weight loss program for their children. I'm not saying put these fat kids on an adult weight loss program like Jenny Craig or Nutrasystem, but they should be put in a program and on a diet that is good for kids.

I agree. In theory they think they are punishing the parents for not caring for their children, but in reality they are traumatizing the children for something over which they have absolutely no control. The reason why the children are fat is because of what the parents feed them, and oftentimes the parents can not afford "decent food" because decent food is expensive!!

I heard this yesterday and I was appauled that someone would even mention a solution like this....I can't imagine anyone with any brains going along with this. Incredible!

I'm very much in agreement with you in that the politically correct nanny brigade will do more damage to the children by storming in and ripping them away from what could quite likely be loving parents. Definitely better to educate the parents as to how to make sure their children eat healthy amounts of nutritious foods.

That's crazy. There are a million children out there getting abused; how can they even consider focusing on a well adjusted child that is just over weight. Sometimes it is metabolism based and when they get to a certain age, they develop and the weight is gone when the hormone thing starts. It was like that with me. I was super active and very healthy but by today's standard, I would have been considered overweight. Just before highschool...during the summer...the weight just started going to different places..LOL..and I was smaller than a lot of people in my class. My daughter's best friend was over weight and her mom even took her to the doctor requesting a diet and help. He said she was healthy and active...it might be genetic. There is so much to consider I just don't know how they can think taking a child from parents is going to help anything.

Hello Sara, Was there any proposal of this sort? I hv not heard about it. Even my son is slightly obese. His food habits are the real culprit. Though I am very strict and do not allow him to eat chips, etc. even then he keeps on putting weight. However hard I may scare him, he is not bothered. Wish there was some solution.

Huh?! What?! Is this for real? Where is this taking place?

What is the Food Nazis?There is no sense in taking obese children away from their parents.What is the reason for it?Not every obese child fills out because he eats too much.

I agree with you totally.Its not the childs fault they are obese and it would affect them more then anyone but how can you really ram home to these parents that let thier children get to this stage that it is not acceptable.I think they should definately come up with another way of punishing the parents but not the children.

They make the food prices too high by making sure that most of the corn goes to ethanol, (and I am sure they are thinking of the other grain products) they the government puts chemicals in meat to make the cows grow bigger, they add additives to food that have harmful effects on people, they make organic foods so expensive so the only ones that can live cheaply and healthy are out in the farms. And even they have trouble with the weather and all that. The parents are fighting against paying rent and feeding their kids. Get the price of the good food down, and there would be less obesity. Maybe they should have watched that Jamie Oliver show instead of deciding to traumatize the children by taking them away from their parents. My take? Get someone like Jamie Oliver or a famous chef to show parents how to cook healthy budget meals for their children. That would be better then the government blaming the parents for something they have little control over.

Wow that is horrible that people think that if a kid is obese they should be taken away from their parents. It is sad when kids get that big but its not even always the parents fault. A lot of times thyroid conditions and other things cause them to become obese. Regardless of why they are obese they dont deserve to be taken away from their parents because of it. I completely agree with everything you said!

I completely agree with you! this is so dumb! to just take a kid away from their home is inhumane and just because their fat for goodness sake! Trying to force kids to become skinny should not be allowed.This pretty much just makes me sick that the government has this much power over us that they can just take our kids away and blame it all on the parents that the kids are fat and punish the kids for being so and set them up in a foster home for pretty much no really legit reason.

I think this is a horrible idea! I also want to add alot of very obese children have very obese parents! Instead of taking the kids away the parents and children should be shown how to get healthy by being shown how to eat healthy! Something has to be done! If not that they should get help form a therapist! There could be some under lying issues that can cause obesity! Some of these kids and adults really need help! Some have diabetis,heart problems can happen and other things can happen just becuase people are very obese! This would not be a big deal if there was not an obesity epidemic in the United States! Especially with children and teenagers! Sometihng needs to be done but taking the kids away from the parents in a stupid idea!

This definately makes no sence. By takeing the children away what makes them think that they will get scared and it will help them in reducing weight. Ridicolous. What can be done is the partents can be educated about not always giving their chilren fatty food especailly fast food and concentrating on a more nutritious diet. By doing so they will eat more healthy food and also stay fit rather than be obese. The parents could also teach their children how to do some simple exercises. Takeing them away will be of no help to anybody and may even result in something disastrous..

Although the parents should indeed be doing a better job at getting their kids to eat right since a kids food supply is completely governed by their parents, taking their kids away would also not solve any problems.