News2 mins ago
Is overfeeding "child abuse" ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6751991.stm
What is it with modern parents? They seem to be clueless, I mean surely they must know that feeding kids on tons of crap is going to make them fat. Is this more evidence that people are relying more and more on being told how to live by the state? is there an entrire generation out there with no common sense?
What is it with modern parents? They seem to be clueless, I mean surely they must know that feeding kids on tons of crap is going to make them fat. Is this more evidence that people are relying more and more on being told how to live by the state? is there an entrire generation out there with no common sense?
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It's not just the feeding of piles of crap ~ it's the distinct lack of exercise too!
A bit of everything in moderation, I say. I don't know if I am to be classed as a 'modern parent'. I am 39 years old with 4 kids..their ages range from 17 right down to 6 years and they eat crap every now & then. They know it isn't to be eaten often. We have chips once a week and a McDonalds and other takeaway (chinese or indian) once a month.
The oldest kids walk to school and partake in sporty activities. The youngest spend most of their free time horse riding or helping out up at the stables. None of them are obese. My stepdaugher is very skinny, and considers all food outside of salad and humus 'unhealthy'. However she is ill ALL the time. I refuse to put a ban on certain foods, as this can work against you.
Yes, lack of common sense is abound
A bit of everything in moderation, I say. I don't know if I am to be classed as a 'modern parent'. I am 39 years old with 4 kids..their ages range from 17 right down to 6 years and they eat crap every now & then. They know it isn't to be eaten often. We have chips once a week and a McDonalds and other takeaway (chinese or indian) once a month.
The oldest kids walk to school and partake in sporty activities. The youngest spend most of their free time horse riding or helping out up at the stables. None of them are obese. My stepdaugher is very skinny, and considers all food outside of salad and humus 'unhealthy'. However she is ill ALL the time. I refuse to put a ban on certain foods, as this can work against you.
Yes, lack of common sense is abound
Loosehead - thank God...we're now going back to disagreeing with each other.
In the 70s (which is when I grew up), my mother fed me on tonnes and tonnes of rubbish (McCains French Bread Pizza was a staple in our house), but we didn't grow up fat because we didn't lead a sedentary lifestyle. We were always up the adventure playground or on our bikes.
Kids of today are exactly like we were, but they have the Internet and online gaming which means they don't burn off the excess calories they consume.
Also - convenience food is considerably cheaper than it was 20 or 30 years ago, so it's quite easy to raise a child on 'turkey twizzlers' and so on.
I don't think that parents should be prosecuted unless the case is extreme....education is the answer.
Lots of it.
Nice to be disagreeing again.
In the 70s (which is when I grew up), my mother fed me on tonnes and tonnes of rubbish (McCains French Bread Pizza was a staple in our house), but we didn't grow up fat because we didn't lead a sedentary lifestyle. We were always up the adventure playground or on our bikes.
Kids of today are exactly like we were, but they have the Internet and online gaming which means they don't burn off the excess calories they consume.
Also - convenience food is considerably cheaper than it was 20 or 30 years ago, so it's quite easy to raise a child on 'turkey twizzlers' and so on.
I don't think that parents should be prosecuted unless the case is extreme....education is the answer.
Lots of it.
Nice to be disagreeing again.
I'd say it would only count as child abuse if someone was purposefully over-feeding a child thinking 'tee-hee, this'll make him obese! Muahahaha!' Otherwise, it's easy to condemn it, but among some low-income families where convenience food is sometimes all that is either affordable or instantly available, it's sometimes either unavoidable or a strein to do otherwise.
I'd be inclined (as usual) to agree with sp. Education is the only real way to solve the problem on a macro scale - or somehow making a better diet instantly available (perhaps, for example, in the form of something like school dinners and the like)
I'd be inclined (as usual) to agree with sp. Education is the only real way to solve the problem on a macro scale - or somehow making a better diet instantly available (perhaps, for example, in the form of something like school dinners and the like)
I don't understand how some parents can be so thick as to ignore the fact that their child is a mass of blubber! It's not classified information that if you are getting fat, then you are eating too much and not burning it off! My ex sister in law has an obese boy...she is a bit planky anyway, so that may be at the root of it ..but he eats only bread with chocolate spread and chips! She gives into his demands constantly as she obviously thinks that parenting is a popularity contest. The parents buy the food, make the food and feed the children. If little Josh is turning into a porker, then don't buy the biscuits, crisps, cakes etc. It's not that hard!!
The Doctor who I heard (albeit only a snippet) was asking for this matter to be considered as abuse when other attempts at resolving the situation had failed. He did state that the majority of parents with children with obese children did respond to education, but for those that didn't he wanted the parental behavior to be viewed as abusive in the same way that a parent who fails to provide a child with adequate food. His arguments being both children are at risk of serious health problems.
I think his point had some validity but, there seem to be some significant differences between the two situations. Where a child is not fed, the child is a passive victim, where the child is obese they are usually a participative victim � ie the child is not force fed or prevented from moving around. That is not to say the parent does not have responsibilities but there actions may be more of omission than commission. Additionally there is not the pressure/temptation from the food industry such as McD�s or Supermarkets to tempt you and your child into not buying food as there is to consume fast, fatty, relatively cheap kid branded food. So I am not sure what advantage there is in terms of helping such families as describing the parental behavior as abusive. I would imagine that this problem generally like most social health problems, smoking, excessive use of alcohol is more wide spread in the less economically advantaged groups. Therefore education and promotion of positive health care would seem the best way forward unless it�s a case of so what it�s not me or my family so I don�t give a toss.
I think his point had some validity but, there seem to be some significant differences between the two situations. Where a child is not fed, the child is a passive victim, where the child is obese they are usually a participative victim � ie the child is not force fed or prevented from moving around. That is not to say the parent does not have responsibilities but there actions may be more of omission than commission. Additionally there is not the pressure/temptation from the food industry such as McD�s or Supermarkets to tempt you and your child into not buying food as there is to consume fast, fatty, relatively cheap kid branded food. So I am not sure what advantage there is in terms of helping such families as describing the parental behavior as abusive. I would imagine that this problem generally like most social health problems, smoking, excessive use of alcohol is more wide spread in the less economically advantaged groups. Therefore education and promotion of positive health care would seem the best way forward unless it�s a case of so what it�s not me or my family so I don�t give a toss.
Strangely enough kwicky I've mused to myself for some time now about that verry idea! People who'll swim here from some of the most beutiful places on gods earth just to get here! I think we should say "Woa, why all the hardship to get here ? We'll do you a straight swap," we have loads of antisun cream, no problem, bring it on I say !
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