Obese kid taken from mom

[kazumazkan]

so this kid was taken from his mom when they went to a doctor for breathing problems or some shit like that.. so is he better off or what? linkty link

[Gagsy]

Who are we to judge? We are not the childs parents who claim to be trying their best and we are not the social services who obviously think there is a just reason for taking the kid away.

I imagine he will likely be back home before long. They'll just start sending round someone to weight him every week and talk to him about eating well and exercise.

[Darthleather]

Serves him right, the little fatty.

[WeHaveFreshCookies]

How is it the mother's fault? She sends him to school every day for 6 hours. The government is the one giving kids terrible food at lunch 5 days a week, and cutting funding for after-school activities and P.E.

[SnakeSkull]

It always seems to be a blame game that is played on the parents.

Has Social Services not considered that the schools need recess and physical education classes?

Has Social Services not considered that school lunches are atrociously bad for a child's health?

Had Social Services not considered that healthier food choices are expensive/unavailable?

Yes, the parent does deserve some blame, but they were outright insulting her ability as a parent.

[WeHaveFreshCookies]

At 11/28/11 01:45 PM, agustana wrote:

At 11/28/11 01:39 PM, WeHaveFreshCookies wrote: How is it the mother's fault? She sends him to school every day for 6 hours. The government is the one giving kids terrible food at lunch 5 days a week, and cutting funding for after-school activities and P.E.

Say lunch is an hour long (estimate), that's five hours a week of what the child eats. A lot of schools have gone healthy. They no longer serve soda, only milk or water. They have to have a serving of fruits or vegetables, and generally a meat. They've taken out snack foods like sugary sweets and salty chips. We don't know what the child's school is serving, so until you do some research on that you can't really prove this as a valid point in this one case.

Based on what I know of the American school system, then. Which is a fairly good amount, actually. I'm staying with some family here, and they're both teachers in different schools. I also went to school with my cousin not too long ago, because he was having some kind of "bring somebody to school" day.

That aside, it's an awful situation. In my Aunt's school, they've already cut down recess and eliminated any P.E. or music. The cafeteria food is pretty decent though. They have a good chef. In my cousin's school, he has only about 15 minutes of recess, and the food is wretched. Burgers that come freeze-dried, or pizza. Those are his options. Oh and he gets fries as well. But at least there's milk. No fresh meat or veggies. And between this, they're forced to sit absolutely still and listen to a teacher talk about spelling and math. Something that kids are NOT designed to do. They WANT to run around and be insane, but for 30+ hours a week, they're told that doing so is awful.

[Slint]

At least some time away to lose weight.

[Yoshi-Dus-Not]

Well, With my school, Lunch is about 48 min, and people eat for about 5-10 min, and the rest is used for socializing and/or homework. It's also the parents fault for not helping the kid watch his/her weight.

[SuperSilver123]

At 11/28/11 02:55 PM, Yoshi-Dus-Not wrote: It's also the parents fault for not helping the kid watch his/her weight.

The kid could have an eating disorder which is not necessarily the fault of the parents', but I admit 200 pounds already seems way too much for that boy.

--------------------

These sort of actions should have been executed before the boy got to 200 pounds. What was the mother doing then? Wasn't she taking some sort of preventive measures from making her child morbidly obese? Did she just tell her kid "Oh sure honey, eat annnnything you want and you don't have to really exercise at all." Couldn't she have forced him not to eat as much and do extensive exercising?

I'm sure that if slow metabolism and/or eating disorders were causing this, the mother sure didn't make it look like she was helping.

[Sensationalism]

I think making your kid obese is abusive parenting. Not so sure being put in the foster care system is better for the child than his loving family. Maybe a bit of education or assistance before taking him away completely.

[FLAMBOYTHEIMPALER]

At 11/28/11 01:39 PM, WeHaveFreshCookies wrote: How is it the mother's fault? She sends him to school every day for 6 hours. The government is the one giving kids terrible food at lunch 5 days a week, and cutting funding for after-school activities and P.E.

Thats what happens when the USA government would rather blow billions to bail out banks. But god forgive them if they spend a penny on public schools.

[chipotleaway]

Personally, I blame both the mother and the Social Services.
At my school, we have a couple options for lunch. There is a taco/burrito bar which is fairly decent. There's nachos and and hamburgers and chicken patties. The food is so greasy that if you leave it on your tray, the tray will be soggy and yellowish brown.

The pizza oozes oil when you poke it and you get a choice of orange juice or chocolate milk.
A bottle of water is $2.00. A salad is $2.50. A normal lunch is about 75 cents. That means that if you want to have a healthy lunch, you have to pay almost $5. Which is way too much if you ask me. The healthier food should be way cheaper.

As for the mother, there should have been a time where she thought that her was a getting a little too big for his age. So honestly, I would just go with the social worker coming every week or so to weigh the kid, and If he gains too much weight, they can take him away.

[Nemo103]

At 11/28/11 01:29 PM, Darthleather wrote: Serves him right, the little fatty.

Thats just cold man

[kazumazkan]

At 11/28/11 01:26 PM, Gagsy wrote:

well like gagsy said if social services would someone to keep check on him teach him healthy eating make sure hes exercising and things like that then by all means

[Piggler]

I need to see a picture of this child.

[MoriChax]

Unless she was force feeding him I dont think she should have her child taken away. But she should also be helping her child eat healthier or she might kill them at a young age. :\

[Zippy-MyMusic]

Jesus christ, I'm 200 lbs right now because I'm just a big guy, but a third grader? That's inhumanely fat!

That kid would have serious problems later in life if he doesn't lose the weight soon.

[Halberd]

There isn't any way of us knowing, its possible she was trying her hardest and its the governments or schools fault or something.

Also I hope there is a way she can get back her child once he loses his obesity. If not, then fuck the UK government.

[Halberd]

At 11/28/11 09:42 PM, Halberd wrote: There isn't any way of us knowing, its possible she was trying her hardest and its the governments or schools fault or something.

Also I hope there is a way she can get back her child once he loses his obesity. If not, then fuck the UK government.

So it turns out she can never get her son back again LOL

CHAV LIEF MOTHER FUCKERS YEAH

UK GONNA GIVE IT TO YA UK UK GONNA GIVE IT TO YA

[DarkShadowblade]

At 11/28/11 01:26 PM, Gagsy wrote: Who are we to judge? We are not the childs parents who claim to be trying their best and we are not the social services who obviously think there is a just reason for taking the kid away.

I imagine he will likely be back home before long. They'll just start sending round someone to weight him every week and talk to him about eating well and exercise.

This isn't enough. To me, it's not only the Parent's fault, but the American Education Systems' as well. Gym needs to be Everyday for AT LEAST 45 minutes. Lunch needs to be made healthier as well. I know back at elementary school, they served pizza and fries EVERY DAY. Only when I'm looking back as a grown Individual do I realize that something like that should NEVER happen.

[kazumazkan]

HERE'S a Video

[The-Psycho-Ragdoller]

Maybe he was her thanksgiving dinner.

[RydiaLockheart]

I can see both sides of this. According to the article, the kid already had sleep apnea. If he doesn't lose weight soon, he's in for serious health problems, as well as a shortened life. As for taking away kids who are obese, keep in mind they're not taking kids who are slightly chubby. They're taking the ones who can't take three steps without gasping for breath.

On the same token, I don't like the idea of government just coming in and taking your kids. I don't know what this woman's situation was or what she did with the kid. Yes, she was obviously culpable for his weight, but was she feeding him properly or making sure he exercised? If she was just outright negligent then that's another matter.

I remember reading about a case in Baltimore where a 15-year-old boy was taken for being 400+ pounds. Social services had been working with the boy's family since he was 13, and had given them exercise and food consultations, as well as sent someone to check up on the kid every now and then. But the mother didn't give a shit and the kid gained an extra 150 pounds over the timespan from all the garbage she kept giving him. In that case, I think removal was justified. While a 15-year-old can go through the cupboards and get what he wants, as opposed to a 3-year-old, it's the parent's responsibility to make sure there is healthy food in the cupboard.

[kazumazkan]

At 11/28/11 10:09 PM, RydiaLockheart wrote: I can see both sides of this. According to the article, the kid already had sleep apnea. If he doesn't lose weight soon, he's in for serious health problems, as well as a shortened life. As for taking away kids who are obese, keep in mind they're not taking kids who are slightly chubby. They're taking the ones who can't take three steps without gasping for breath.

On the same token, I don't like the idea of government just coming in and taking your kids. I don't know what this woman's situation was or what she did with the kid. Yes, she was obviously culpable for his weight, but was she feeding him properly or making sure he exercised? If she was just outright negligent then that's another matter.

yes i dont like it either but it happens and sometimes its right its for better for kiids

I remember reading about a case in Baltimore where a 15-year-old boy was taken for being 400+ pounds. Social services had been working with the boy's family since he was 13, and had given them exercise and food consultations, as well as sent someone to check up on the kid every now and then. But the mother didn't give a shit and the kid gained an extra 150 pounds over the timespan from all the garbage she kept giving him. In that case, I think removal was justified. While a 15-year-old can go through the cupboards and get what he wants, as opposed to a 3-year-old, it's the parent's responsibility to make sure there is healthy food in the cupboard.

very good point

[Cootie]

At 11/28/11 01:39 PM, WeHaveFreshCookies wrote: How is it the mother's fault? She sends him to school every day for 6 hours. The government is the one giving kids terrible food at lunch 5 days a week, and cutting funding for after-school activities and P.E.

They have salads at school everyday, and a somewhat healthy meal most days along with an unhealthy meal. He just has to pick the common sense right one. And PE isn't the only place a child can exercise.

[Light]

There are so many factors that one must reasonably take into account with regard to obesity(Especially of the childhood kind) that I really don't know who's at fault here. I guess I'll try to approach the problem like this:

Obesity can be caused by metabolic disorders, such as hypothyroidism. If this was the case with the child, then he should've gotten treatment for it. The disorder is very treatable.

If the obesity was caused by school lunches that are not very nutritious and simply fattening, then the school menus should be reformed. The kid shouldn't be punished. Then again, children generally aren't forced to eat from the cafeteria, as their parents can provide them with food from home. Of course, this isn't a viable alternative for the poor, as their kids rely nearly entirely on these food programs.

The diet of the child at home should've been examined. If it was, then I'm sorry for not realizing that earlier. In any case, the parent's child should rightfully be taken away from him/her if the parent consistently fails to provide nutritious food for the child.

If the parent failed to do this because he/she can't afford healthy food, then he/she should seek government assistance in the form of food stamps.

If this wasn't a viable option, then perhaps the parent was capable of feeding the child well. I could be wrong. In any case, the child should also have been forced to exercise.

etc. etc. etc.

There's a trillion factors I could list here, and I simply don't feel like explaining them all. I have an ambivalent attitude towards this case. I can't say I support this particular instance of a child being separated from his/her family, but I do support the separation of an obese child from his/her parents if the parents can reasonably provide the child with nutritious food, but fails to do this and passively, or actively, continues to do so. The parents would present a risk to the child's life at this point.

[The-Lonely-Island]

I don't think the media should mention that he's obese, because that is not important to us.

[Light]

At 11/28/11 11:25 PM, The-Lonely-Island wrote: I don't think the media should mention that he's obese, because that is not important to us.

It's kind of pivotal to the news report, though.

[LOzL]

The problem i keep seeing isn't the mother (although parents do help create their child's behavior) or the school (which works as it should -have fairly cheap education for all) but rather the ideals we seem to have to throw emotions at each other through blame, ridicule, isolation, and forcing our views (and rules) down each others throat. Our system is flawed (no doubt), it tries to label and deal with different people the same way every time, but it's our own faults for letting things go sour. Remember: "one generation forms the next" the parent teaches the child----- you aren't healthy (which is a combination of consuming food -energy- and exhausting that energy through exercise) then your child ain't gonna be either (most likely scenario). And stop blaming others for shit, seriously. Is it not better to repair than to tear down and then repair? It's surprisingly ironic how we've developed amazing technologies and revere ourselves as "intelligent" when we are so blind.