Pajamas Media

44 Comments

1. Roy M:

This article is right but it is nonsense. Yes we live in an obeseagenic society, and the trend is that it is getting more so. But so what? It is the job of parents to bring up their children in the world as it is, not as it should be. If they are not up to that job then, as a last resort, children need to be raised by someone who is.

Nov 22, 2008 - 4:00 am 2. Mary Jackson:

Meanwhile real child abuse is allowed to happen, even if it leads to murder, like Victoria Climie and Baby P. The real child abuse of “arranged” – generally forced – marriages among Muslims has not been tackled through a combination of lack of willpower and political correctness.

Nov 22, 2008 - 5:17 am 3. hp:

and there are children who lie, cheat, and steal……

food in their own homes when the mother puts them on a diet.

AND CHILDREN’S SERVICES GOES AFTER THE MOTHER FOR DARING TO DENY FOOD TO THE CHILDREN.

Nov 22, 2008 - 5:57 am 4. Terry Gain:

Why shouldn’t the government intervene in how families are raising their children. The government does such a great job of everything else.

Nov 22, 2008 - 7:14 am 5. Daedalus:

Remember, this is the same country that sued to overturn the decision of a 13 year old girl who was tired of operations and decided to let nature take its course. Of course, the real question that needs to be asked is; How far is Obama from implementing similar policies in our country ???

Nov 22, 2008 - 7:50 am 6. Ritchie Emmons:

This is one of my biggest fears of an Obama Presidency (combined with a heavily Democratic Congress) – the imposition of a nanny state. I’d hate for America to essentially become a de facto European state. I’m hoping that he governs as a centrist – indeed, I’m holding my breath.

Equating a child getting obese with the same sorts of child abuse like giving a beating is absurd. Do you equate the person who witnesses (and does nothing about it) a murder with the person who commits it? Of course not. Say what you want about a parent who “allows” a child to get fat, it’s not even remotely close to justifying the state imposing their will on that family. And what if the child is genetically predisposed to being obese? Does the state still have the right to take that child away? Is there a medical test taken first? Does the state even care? And what of the mental torment a child may suffer from being taken from his parents? Is that not in and of itself a form of child abuse?

I’d like to think that proponents of these measures have their heart in the right place, but I find such interventions in private lives so distasteful that I have to wonder if there isn’t another motivation behind the scenes.

Nov 22, 2008 - 8:18 am 7. AnninCA:

Although it’s a horrible and real problem, I simply can’t stand this level of interference in private lives. It’s ridiculous to enforce. We have enough trouble enforcing severe abuse cases where children are tortured to death and left unprotected by children’s services.

Nov 22, 2008 - 8:37 am 8. FLMom:

If the people have demanded that the government give them healthcare, then of course the government has the right to tell them what they can eat, how much they can drink, how much exercise they should get each day. Isn’t this what many Americans want as well? Isn’t this exactly what a majority voted for in the last election?

This is a very basic principle.

The more you ask of the government, the more freedoms you relinquish.

Nov 22, 2008 - 9:01 am 9. Dave D:

This has to be the single most stupid thing I have ever seen in my life.

Your kid is overweight, so we are going to take him away from you and put him in foster care, and charge you with abuse.

Like losing your natural parents is far less traumatic than being obese. Like being shuttled from foster home to foster home and being kept away from parents that actually do love and care for you because of the state is going to contribute to the kid’s well being.

Oh yeah, this may solve obesity, as more and more people stop having kids. Jesus, if you can get charged with abuse for that, they could one day charge you for anything.

Nov 22, 2008 - 9:23 am 10. David Adams:

What is the definition of ‘obese’? When the government can’t find enough children who fit into that category to justify the program, will the ’standards’ be lowered to ‘fat’ ‘overweight’ and finally to ‘chubby’?

Nov 22, 2008 - 9:49 am 11. Pig with lipstick:

So is the tubby (sorry, incorrect word) child, once in the care of the state, forcibly put on a diet? The kid made to do exercises to get their weight down? If so, could this be classified as “Cruel and unusual punishments”?

I do hope the poor child, now the state is taking care of it, has someone he or she can turn to for advise and help. A lawyer appointed by the courts to defend their welfare? All paid for by the State of course.

And will the parents be discouraged from having any more kids as they are so bad at it? Enforced contraception or sterilization?

Nov 22, 2008 - 10:11 am 12. momof3:

Well, I’m no fan of Britain, but someone’s got to do something. And yes, fat kids are the parents fault, and it is abuse. It’s proven to dramatically shorten the child’s life. We remove for much less here in the US. Spankings do not shorten life, but we call it abuse.

A parent who feeds their kid junk and lets them sit all day needs parenting lessons at best, and the child needs help.

Nov 22, 2008 - 10:53 am 13. momof3:

The way children are genetically predisposed to being fat is by having fat parents. Your parents eat crap and don’t move off the couch, you will too. I am SO sick of the fat gene excuse for being lazy.

Fabulous point about a government that gives you healthcare being able to regulate all aspects of health, and unhealthy behavior. And so very true. ANd no, healthy food and exercise are NOT cruel and unusual, or punishments. NO wonder so much of the world is fat!

Nov 22, 2008 - 11:05 am 14. Wacky Hermit:

A friend of mine has a child who suffers from horrible migraines. The migraine medicine has caused the girl to gain a lot of weight, to the point where they don’t make clothes her size. She eats healthy foods (she calls fruit “sports candy”) in healthy amounts but is still fat. How dare anyone pass judgment on her or her mother, let alone accuse the mother of child abuse?

Nov 22, 2008 - 11:48 am 15. Richard:

Hey “momof3″ is there anything else you’d like the rest of us to do to alleviate your “SO sick of” syndrome. I mean,considering how you and the government are so well versed in how the rest of us should live.

Nov 22, 2008 - 12:44 pm 16. FLMom:

LONDON (AP) – Britain is considering a ban on “happy hour” discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.

Health officials will decide on whether to ban the happy hours – designated times for discount drinks – once an independent policy review is published in coming weeks, a health department spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.

Nov 22, 2008 - 1:07 pm 17. Pig with lipstick:

Let’s clear up one thing about the UK, like us or not (and frankly, it hardly matters who likes us; Europe certainly doesn’t so why not the States too? after all, France and the rest of the EuroSocializts are Washington’s new best friends, right? I mean look at the support they give the US in places like Afghanistan)

Anyway, I digress. The reason the UK government is so anxious about health care is to keep costs down. That’s all. The British NHS is under the microscope and as its costs rise the political flak is huge. The appeal of removing potential problems, like a tub of lard child – though I suspect that there are other things going on in that family which we may never hear about – or even the so-called “happy hour” to cut down on people binge drinking, means there are fewer costs at the point of focus. The costs of pulling a fat kid from poor parents, if that is what it is, is dispersed among other agencies.

A sort of cover up, but all governments are adept at it. “Policy reviews” are attempts to revise the Great Plan, and currently all five year Traktor Produktion plans are on course, as reported to our great helmsman Godron the Glum.

if there is one good reason that the US doesn’t go down our long and winding road it is the world needs someone independent to call a halt. Let’s hope on November 4th you didn’t pass up that chance to stand up for what is right rather than what seems like a good idea.

Nov 22, 2008 - 1:35 pm 18. Arthur:

There are too many fats kids, any means necessary to get them to lose weight, even exercise should not be ruled out.

Nov 22, 2008 - 2:00 pm 19. Mary Jackson:

Kids don’t get enough exercise in the UK because they are fussed over and driven everywhere and parents are so neurotic about paedophiles that they aren’t allowed to play out, as we were when I was little. Also kids now are given what they want – all the sweets and crisps they want – because they’re spoilt rotten.

Nov 22, 2008 - 3:02 pm 20. glenn:

When I was young and passing strong
I used to be really bold
But now I can’t wait for the nanny state
’cause I’m getting old.

Nov 22, 2008 - 5:33 pm 21. momof3:

There are a lot of things people could do to end the stupidity I am so sick of. One would be to not turn into tub-o-lards and complain about how everything but themselves got them that way.

Government and I aren’t good friends and I certainly did not vote Obama. But, someone has to do something about fat kids, and parents aren’t. Damned if I want to pay for all the heart disease and type 2 diabetes treatments they require. You get fat when you take in more than is burned off via homeostasis and exercise. Period. Doesn’t matter if it’s too much fruit, or too many french fries. You can get fat off either one. No medicine makes you store needed calories as fat. They may lower your metabolism, or up your appetite, but they do not create fat out of air.

I wouldn’t expect anyone in the UK to care if I , or the US, likes them. Nor do I see why we should care if europe likes us. Just stating my personal viewpoint.

Nov 22, 2008 - 7:57 pm 22. momof3:

And there are already municipalities here in the US who ban happy hours. I think it was more a drunk driving issue than a liver issue, but same outcome. Who cares?

Nov 22, 2008 - 7:59 pm 23. Nan:

I watched a show on obese children in America. One young girl was 350lbs at the age of 13. The more I watched the show the more I realized that the girl’s mother neglected her/ did not pay attention to her. The lack of parenting left the child with a lot of free time in which she ate whatever she wanted. The mother brought the child to Vegas to “get away” for awhile. Instead of the mother spending time with her child, she left the child alone and went to the casino to gamble. The child’s cousin had come along for the trip and she and her cousin ate at the buffet. The food each one of these youngs girls piled on their plate was enough to feed at least three adults or better. All the while these youngs girls were stuffing their faces the mother was in the casino gambling. Despite the fact that the girl’s doctor told her mother that if she does not lose weight she will end up dying at a young age, the mother is gambling while the daughter is slowly killing herself by the food she eats. I would say this is a case of severe neglect therefore it should have been considered child abuse. I am in favor of less government intrusion in our lives, but in extreme cases such as the one I mentioned above, perhaps the government needs to intervene.

Nov 22, 2008 - 8:36 pm 24. Someone75:

momof3:

You’re no fan of Britain? Why exactly? Is it because you’re intolerant, or merely ignorant? Are they evil Europeans to you? I’d actually like to know.

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:00 am 25. momof3:

I’m not a fan of their nanny-state in general, although I do think this part has merits as I’ve stated. I’m really not a fan of how they are letting islam take over their country with nary a peep. THe more countries that capitulate, the harder it will be for the ones who want to stand firm. Sharia law should never be allowed. And while we’re on the subject, I hate the cuisine. Why are my views so very interesting to you?

i saw that show too. They live in my city. Disgraceful and she should not be allowed to raise that kid.

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:59 am 26. Orca99:

Obesity is largely genetic.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:25 am 27. Ian Thorpe:

To all worried Americans – Fear not, we British retain a healthy disrespect for authority.

Mary in comment 2 made a good point, that the authorities are less keen to interfere in cases of real cruelty when members of “minorities” (which includes people whose learning difficulties are caused not by genetic flaws but by the fact of their not bothering to go to school.

There are many causes of the increase in obese children, but the problem could be helped if children simply had space to play actively.

I remember a student from Tanzania speaking on TV about his impressions of Britain. “There is a problem with children here,” he said, “they all have so much but are so unhappy. In my home children have nothing but they grow up in loving families and strong communities. If they have a burst football or a stick and ball to play baseball or cricket for the boys or a skipping rope and a ball to play catch for the girls and they are happy all day.”

Yeah, I remember games of football that went on all day with the teams varying between three and twenty-five on each side. It was great.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:37 am 28. Irish Alex:

Given that government schools have banned running/sold playgrounds and lack of exercise has a direct link to obesity, can the children be taken off the government for abuse?

Nov 23, 2008 - 8:36 am 29. Donna V.:

When I was a kid in the ’60’s, I was rail thin and so were most of the kids I knew. Even the tubby children were svelte by today’s standards – I don’t remember anybody who was so fat they couldn’t sit at a normal sized school desk.

And when I look at my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, I don’t see any information whatsoever on calories or fat content. My mom used lard to fry chicken.

It’s rather funny that the more diet and calorie obsessed we become, the fatter we get. There were no Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice meals in the ’50’s and ’60’s and yet there were few fewer obese people. (Of course, Big Macs and super-sized fries weren’t around then either.)

But my friends and I spent practically every summer day outside riding our bikes or playing games. We didn’t think of it as “getting exercise” – it was having fun.

When you have kids chauffuered around, when they can’t head off to the park by themselves because psychotic pervs are lurking everywhere, when playing video games becomes more interesting than playing tag or softball or going skating – well, you’re going to end up with a lot of fat kids.

One thing that is easily fixed – stop buying kids bathtub sized soft drinks! One 64 oz. regular soda from 7/11 (or whatever the equivalent is in the UK) is about 700 completely empty calories. My mother might have cooked with lard, but she refused to buy soda for us. “If you’re thirsty, the water faucet is right over there,” she’d say. So none of us ever developed a taste for soda.

But that is a matter of parental judgment and common sense – and people seem increasingly unable to exercise either these days. They want the government to do what individuals were once expected to do as a matter of course.

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:35 pm 30. Jonesy55:

“Obesity is largely genetic.”

No, in 99% of cases, obesity is caused solely by putting in more calories than gets burned off. If some people have slow metabolisms, they just need to eat less.

If obesity was a pre-destined outcome decided by our genetics, why has the incidence shot up in recent years? Have all the people with fat genes been outbreeding the thin kids?

Nov 24, 2008 - 7:00 am 31. Donna V.:

If obesity is genetic, all I can say is that it’s amazing that so many fat genes realized that America would be the golden land of opportunity for them and boarded the ships for Ellis Island.

Obesity is very wide-spread in the black American community. Somehow I doubt their slave and African ancestors were packing a lot of extra weight.

Nov 24, 2008 - 9:50 am 32. momof3:

The fear of letting kids outdoors b/c of predators is largely media-constructed. The chance of your kid being molested, or targeted for the attempt, by a stranger is darn near zero. Almost all molestations are people well known by the kid. And even those aren’t as common as we’re led to believe. The commonly-quoted “1 in 5″ stat was based on a survey that equated ANY touching by ANYONE to be molestation. Little boy grabbed you on the playground? You were molested. It skews the real facts a bit.

It’s much like the fact that you are equally likely to be burglarized whether or not you lock your doors. It’s happenstance, wrong place right time, that sort of thing. Not to say one shouldn’t take precautions, but it’s gone way to the extreme here.

My kids play outside most of the day. The oldest is only 4, so not out front yet, but they have lots of running climbing fun in our backyard. They have no idea how to work a computer or play video games. And they are super healthy and bright. Bonus of that is I can let them have a cookie, or fries, and know it’s getting burned off asap.

Nov 24, 2008 - 10:22 am 33. Someone75:

momof3:

Okay – I think I understand. It’s largely because you are terrified of Muslims. I’m a Christian and I will fight to the death for my rights to practice my religion. But, the flip side to that is, everyone else must be free to practice *their* religion. Islam is not bad. There are some extremists who do terrible things, but there are also Christian extremists (Fred Phelps and co.).

Wasn’t America founded to allow us to pursue religious freedom? That includes Islam. Pardon my frank speech, but you need to get over this irrational fear.

Nov 24, 2008 - 6:49 pm 34. Anonymous:

Actually Momof3, the food is pretty good here too if you want to eat well. You can of course eat very badly like these obese kids but Britain’s reputation as a culinary hellhole is at least 20 years out of date.

Nov 25, 2008 - 12:08 am 35. Ann:

If you’re horrified at childhood obesity being considered child abuse, are you still pro-abortion? If you are, I’d be curious to understand how you did that without hurting your brain.

Nov 25, 2008 - 5:16 am 36. Ann:

33 Someone 75: Wow. You need to educate yourself re Islam. Those who fear Islam (which is both a form of government and a religion that takes no prisoners) have good reason for that fear.

I have never heard a Christian (or any other religion except Islam for that matter) specifically state (and practice), “If you do not convert, it is my duty to kill you.”

Wake up. You don’t have to believe what those who actively oppose Islam say. Just believe what the Islamists themselves say, about themselves, their doctrines, their goals.

Nov 25, 2008 - 5:21 am 37. jonesy55:

But Ann, those hardcore Islamists don’t even represent most Muslims either. It’s like taking the freaks that spout hate on tele-evangelising channels as being representative of mainstream christian thought.

If all followers of Islam believe that it is their duty to kill non-muslims who don’t convert, then they are very lax in carrying out that duty. 1.2bn people could kill a lot of others if they really put their mind to it.

Maybe the fact that 99.9% of those 1.2bn people haven’t killed anybody is an indication of how most Muslims interpret their religion, the same as Christians wisely ignore the instructions to kill rape victims and other abhorent laws in the OT, they rationalise ways to ignore it.

Nov 25, 2008 - 8:49 am 38. Jaz:

Ann – may I suggest you study just a little bit of (a) Christian history and (b) The Qu’ran.

Nov 25, 2008 - 9:47 am 39. Someone75:

Ann:

Okay – I know thinking is not your strong point, but try to follow me here:

Islamic E-X-T-R-E-M-I-S-T-S are the only ones who favor Jihad. Unlike you, I don’t read selectively. I don’t only read things that support my world view. If you would actually attempt to step outside your world of ignorance, you would understand that mainstream Islam is a legitimate religion that does NOT advocate killing non-muslims. That anti-Islam documentary that you probably watched was horribly inaccurate. I feel sorry for you, I really do.

Nov 25, 2008 - 9:16 pm 40. PARENTS IN BRITAIN « The Salty Pundit:

[...] IN BRITAIN IN BRITAIN, parents are being charged with child abuse for having fat children. What’s next? Charges of child abuse for having naughty kids? Kids [...]

Dec 1, 2008 - 11:05 am 41. Governor Patterson Drinks Diet Soda - Page 2:

[...] they see a fat kid in a fast food restaurant. Here is an article about it happening in England. Pajamas Media » Parents of Obese Children Charged with Abuse in Britain Proposal to Ban Obese People From [...]

Dec 15, 2008 - 11:57 am 42. Devi:

Of course fat kids are parents fault but each family has a different reason, if mum and dad are obese its almost ridiculous take the kid away because he is fat but I think parents should control their children intake a lot more. I have a 4 years old and she only wants to eat junk food, do I allow that? of couse not! she can cry, scream, do whatever she wants she knows that she wont eat that every time she ask for it, I do take her to Mcdonals but only once a month instead I take her to ride her bike, swim with her and you know what? that’s the biggest problem, parents don’t want to spend time with their kids so they rather take them to Mcdonals let them in the playground while the parents just watch them, that is making kids fat even more than junk food.

Dec 17, 2008 - 6:55 am 43. rach:

if anorexic children are taken away from their parents, whether that be in hospital or care, to save their life it is only the same principal if a child is morbidly obese to the stage that their life is at risk.

Jan 22, 2009 - 8:01 am 44. Ed:

The problem is fat nerds who stay home in a computor room. You arnt fat if you go out walk around and hand around at street ends. I do no exersize eat a hell load of junk food and the food on the table and im 9 stone and 15! Ok im on a growth spurt but eating more than my mum and elder brother it a joke.

Get the kids on the streets! It stops them from being fat.

I dont have any helath problems im just skinny and CANNOT put on weigth because I move out of the house end of.

(soz bowt the spelling problems :S)

Feb 19, 2009 - 7:46 am

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