More so referring to young children, because I feel that after a certain age, children become more self-aware about what’s healthy versus not-so-healthy to eat and have enough knowledge to make the decision themselves whether or not to be more health-conscious and to pay closer attention to the things they put in their bodies. Y’know, kind of like how some preteens might choose to try being vegetarian for a couple years because they realize their morals diverge from their parents when it comes to the consumption of meat.
Regardless, younger children don’t have that same awareness and haven’t developed that level of understanding yet. They don’t know what eating too much or eating the wrong things will do to their bodies. They’re likely to eat whatever’s available to them whenever they feel like it, which may be when they’re bored, sad, angry, just want something to chew on, etc. instead of just when they’re actually physically hungry.
I think it’s up to the parents to take care of their children, to feed them on a schedule, and to teach them good eating habits in order to keep them healthy and happy until they’re able to do that for themselves. If a parent doesn’t take on that responsibility and lets their kid eat themselves to obesity, I personally consider that neglect and borderline child abuse, the same as if a parent underfed their kid to the point that they were nothing but skin and bones.
Yes, allowing a child to overeat to the point of obesity is neglect
No, allowing a child to overeat to the point of obesity is not neglect
Maybe
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Do you think parents who let their children overeat and become overweight/obese should be charged with criminal neglect?
Obesity is usually not a result of overeating but rather a result of eating the wrong things (bad diet).
I agree with you that it is PARTIALLY the parents' responsibility to feed their children well. However, it is also partially the responsibility of politics and society as a whole to provide parents with the means to do exactly that. Unfortunately, in some countries that is not currently the case.
A good example for this is the US. I actually have quite a lot of sympathy with overweight people in America because anyone who has experienced living in America AS WELL AS in another developed country (ideally not the UK, Australia or Germany) knows that it is incredibly hard to stay fit and healthy in the US. Not only are Americans CONSTANTLY confronted with tempting and very unhealthy foods (fast food and junk food everywhere) but food is also produced in very unhealthy ways. For example there are thousands of food products that contain sugar. Items, where you would never even suspect it. Of course this is also the case in other countries but to a lesser degree.
On top of that, financial incentives are completely misplaced in the US. For example a lot of poor Americans are obese because they can't afford healthy food. To a lesser degree, this is also true for the UK or Germany. I personally think that's a huge problem. If you pay more to buy fresh produce than you pay for a cheeseburger, something's seriously wrong.
However, perhaps the biggest problem is that people in America oftentimes need to actively look for fresh products. I know this from my own experiencing living in the US. The first time I entered a Walmart or a K-Mart, I was seriously shocked. The first products I saw close to the entrance were things like potato chips, warm pastries for people on-the-go, candies etc.. In order to find the fruit/veggie section, I actually had to ask someone. Turns out it was a tiny corner in the back of the building. Now by comparison, if you walk into a supermarket here in Switzerland, fruits and veggies are the very first thing you see. And the section usually makes up a significant amount of the store (like 20%-25% of the total area). Another example would be farmers' markets. Where I live, they're very common (every Wednesday and Saturday, also in small towns). In the US, I haven't seen them anywhere outside of metropoles.
Finally, another point we could talk about is the fact that people are not being educated on healthy eating. For instance (cont.)
in my country, teenagers in 7th-9th grade have to take MANDATORY cooking classes (usually 3 lessons per week). In this class, they learn all the basics of homemaking, including how to cook and how to bake. However, a big part of it includes learning about the food pyramid and healthy eating. In my class, we had to split up into groups of 4 and then each group would have to cook a 3-course lunch menu. There were certain rules, such as the first course had to be a salad and the main course had to include veggies. In the end, the whole class would sit down and eat together (cuz that kind of belongs to the experience ;-)). As far as I know, this kind of thing doesn't exist in most other countries. Certainly not as a mandatory class. So you have people growing up without ever learning about healthy eating... and expect them to somehow teach it to their kids? That's impossible.
That's why I think in some countries such as America, you need a much more fundamental, political change.
Oh and now I completely forgot to answer your question haha. So because of the reasons above, I don't believe parents should be punished. I think we should educate and encourage people, rather than punish them.
Wow, I never thought about this! This is a really good question! Being overweight does cause many issues, high blood pressure, weak knees, and overall, just a shorter life span. However, where is the line where you can define a criminal level of obesity? Everyone is different, people have varying metabolisms, different physical abilities, and different bodies in general. I feel like there should not be punishments for parents, but there should be more energy focused on funding programs to provide healthy food to people who can't access it, more fitness programs for children, and more programs to make children more aware of how to keep themselves healthy and take care of their bodies.
definitely not charged. it's much different to letting your child starve, the intention is completely different. they aren't purposely trying to kill the child. the parents really just don't know any better, and 9/10 times are just as overweight themselves. it'll be unfair too cause the offences would typically go to people of a lower socio-economic class, just because they're disadvantaged and have bigger worries.
plus what's charging them with criminal neglect gonna achieve? take the child away? ruin a clear record? jesus, i'm sure even the child wouldn't be happy with that.
maybes just intervention from a family doctor and giving them diet plans etc.
Children who over-eat can easily fall in one of two camps:
They've learned it from a parent who also over-eats or is inactive. Those parents might be a bit lazy, or are also using food as a coping mechanism for past trauma.
The child may have a genetic disorder that makes losing weight more difficult than normal, passed on from the parent.
I think a few questions from a counselor should be asked for any child at any unhealthy range of weight. From there, decisions can be made. Preferably ones where both the parent and child are encouraged to seek counseling to improve their lives. But even then, some may argue that is over-reaching. I argue it would be beneficial. Most people live in an adamant state of denial though.
Regardless, most parents don't have malicious intent towards their children who are over-eating. But some children who over-eat may be taking on unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Its for the latter reason that I suggest minor involvement.
It’s not that simple. There are many obese children who are victims of their low socioeconomic status. They may live in the inner city where crime rates are high so they can not safely play or exercise outdoors. They may come from a family who lacks basic education about healthy nutrition, or simply cannot afford to buy healthier food options. In some cases, these families may not live near a grocery store and have no other choice but to buy processed foods from a corner market. I don’t believe that parents should be charged with criminal neglect, but vastly over- (or under-) weight children may benefit from a referral to social workers or other professionals to find resources to help these kids and get them to a safe, target weight.
If this would be the case. As far as i know all grandmothers would be charged for crime!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 You know how much quantity & quality they feed us..😝
Parenting is a difficult job, how can not any parent let his/her child eat until they get satisfied. Its the children who need to learn, from others as well as from self. Parents always warn us in everything that we do. They shldnt be charged, its not their fault. Its fault of those companies who sell such foods, make attractive advertisements, the govt. which gives permission to all this run in their country is most responsible.
NO. I don't think it's that simple. The way I see it is, the parent's themselves are fatties so should they be also labeled as self harmers.. In rich countries specifically USA, the poor people are the most at risk of obesity because the food source in the environment and market are filled with foods that are tasty, fatty, sugary and lots of carbs and cheap. Makes a good profit.
Parents themselves are ill informed by nutrition hence that's why they too are fat. On top of that many of them would also be working, there goes convenient fast food, delis, or whatever something processed food in a box/can readily available so thus start of an unhealthy lifestyle.
Childhood obesity is obesity. Like many things, if the cases are few it is an isolated case or something that can be put on the individual. If there are many many cases then there is something wrong with the system. In medical terms it is an epidemic.
I could write an essay here about why it's so, but I don't feel like it at the moment. Also, I wanna enjoy my first victory here over a feminist, so yeh XD
Trust me, that's not even close to how pathetic they get XD it's why I consider it a W for me. I mean, if I really wanted to, I could go out of my way and write something like a blog post on here or whatever is closest to that and debunk feminism completely, but that's too much effort. Maybe if I become somewhat influential here one day I'll start doing stuff like that, I dunno
Nah, I usually burn out after 2-3 days of intense posting. It usually becomes repetitive and people ask questions that you just need to do a quick google search to get the answer. But hey, you never know, if the questions keep being interesting like that one I might have enough juice to go for weeks 😂
@ericclayton it's quite simple to explain her personality. She accepts "facts" which are presented to her based on how much she likes them and how much effort she has to put into understanding them. If it's something she likes and has to put 0 effort in to understand, she accepts it. When you challenge that with logic, rationality and objectivity and give a thorough explanation, she dismisses it as a troll because she's either too lazy to read it, or too dumb and/or unintelligent to comprehend the argument. Usually both.
It's no different from any other modern-day feminist really, as they always shift the blame on you for them not understanding something. You're either a troll, chauvinist, mansplaining, sexist, idiot or some other insult they come up with at that moment. Frankly, I'm quite used to it by now. I just feel sad for the actually good girls who will be avoided by good guys because of the huge gap feminism created between us.
@MarkTKD Honestly, dude, you are SO spot on, and everything I’ve seen you write so far I’ve been in 100% agreement with. You literally just joined today but you’re already on my list of 1000 IQ People (as is @ericclayton and @JimRSmith, you should probably check both of them out) and quickly becoming one of my favorite members. I’m really hoping you don’t just get bored after a week or so and quit, you’re doing great so far.
Well thanks, but I really don't think I'm doing or saying anything that groundbreaking. It's all a simple matter of "if you do this, the possible outcomes are this, this and this. Based on what you told me about the situation, the most likely outcome is this". Just pure logic and deduction. Throw in a few facts and statistics when needed and that's that. You've pretty much mastered life once you get in such a mindset.
I think it's more along the lines of abuse than neglect. The lifestyle your parents raise you with is usually the lifestyle you stick with forever, and if they raised you to be a fatass, I've got some bad news for you, you're probably not going to change. You could, yes, but you won't.
I knew someone who's son had serious heart complication from even when she was still pregnant. Both parents are severely obese and their son had to undergo multiple surgeries while she was pregnant and after he was born. He is now severely obese as a child and it absolutely breaks my heart and infuriates me that his parents would dramatically increase his risk factors when he already has many heart issues.
Yes and no. In some cultures uneducated people believe that a chubby child is a healthy child. I believe that lack of education and cultural background should be taken in consideration before pressing any charges. But yes, I consider that a fat child is the parents’ fault, not the child’s.
That's a good question! But too much control is never a good thing, however, it's a social problem, start there! Happy meals, school lunches, foods targeted at kids, that's where you target, education in public schools and encouragement for parents and kids to live and eat healthy, that's where you start.
No, just another regulation in Regulation Nation. My whole family eat right, avoid fast food, and are fit. But I'm not about to tell others what to eat. You'll notice that most thinner people are upper class. Most fat people are lower class. It's always been that way, even before the dumb food stamp program and proliferation of fast food joints. You can't legislate stupid.
It should not be charged but every one should be little concious about the consequences people will have after getting overweight. It takes some efforts and you have to step out of your comfort zone so that makes it more hard but for a better life we should make an effort 😊
I was overweight as a child because my dad wanted the cheapest way to feed us through macdonalds. I am the same weight 26 as I was when 8 years old. However, my dad didn't know better. Neglect is to be uncaring. If someone is feeding you, then it's because they don't want you to starve. If a child makes their parents feel guilty about that, they shouldn't expect dinner then let alone be loved.
it CAN be neglect, but it may not be. Making it criminal only compounds the problem. How would you defend against parents starving their kids to avoid going to jail for obesity?
Besides, it's not about how much a child eats, but about how active he or she is.
How will the government determine that every single parent who's child is overweight, is not loved and being taken care of properly.
Obesity is wrong but I don't think the government needs to charge parents for allowing their children to be fat. Instead I think parents need to be more educated about health.
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Anonymous
(18-24)
+1 y
Yes, and no. Hear me out. Speaking from an overweight kid. I have no control over what i eat. I dont have a job I can't buy my own food etc. My family almost never buys produce. and i try to cut down the amounts i eat but then my vitamin levels get low etc. I am not a child who won't eat my broccoli either. I love fruits and veggies. But i never get them usually.
What the heck for second I thought you took my pic and put it on here it looks kinda looks like me. If you look at the other part of my profile you'll see the chick holding my picture
No lol that's gray hair. I'm talking about super blond hair almost white looking a little bit like bleached hair but kind of like yellowish blond. Yeah I do prefer super blond actually
Irresponsible. You may as well just raise the kids yourself if ur gonna get to pedantic.. I see your point tho and it's a waste of resources to be fat, cost you in food and petrol money cos u weigh more
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