UK may take obese boy from mother

[RugbyD]

seems like his parents are intent on enabling him. i don't think this is something to break up a family for because the parents are not guilty of neglect (they appear to love him very much and pay penty of attention to him) and are not guilty of any sort of physical abuse. they are just the biggest cowards and pushovers on the planet. throw locks on the fridge and cabinets and let the kid cry his ham tears until he goes to bed on a normal diet. i read elsewhere that he can't make the 5-minute walk to school b/c he gets too tired or pukes on the way there. Make him walk every day and he'll get one step closer to school before he pukes and soon enough he'll make it the whole way.

I agree with everything you wrote except:

"the parents are not guilty of neglect"

Yes they most certainly are. They are allowing their child's health to suffer for no reason at all. It is their responsibility to protect their child (even from himself or them) and see to his well being. They are clearly ignoring and reglecting that responsibility as this child is not healthy in the least, and they are the ones causing him to not be healthy. They are clearly neglecting the health of their child. Would be no different than not feeding him at all, which I doubt anyone would argue isn't neglect.

I can understand disagreement on that point, but my view here is to distiguish between neglecting the general parental repsonsibilities and specifically neglecting the child. It is a fine line, but i think it can be drawn.

These parents are enablers of a very unhealthy lifestyle. There are a lot of these type of parents. This is a particularly easy case to single out beause of its extremity, but the parents' actions are no different than many; maybe a difference of 3 twinkies a week, but we wonuld't hear the govt clamoring about them. These parents are very involved in the child's life, they just suck at it. Neglect is a term I would reserve for non-parents, not stupid ones.

[Madison]

seems like his parents are intent on enabling him. i don't think this is something to break up a family for because the parents are not guilty of neglect (they appear to love him very much and pay penty of attention to him) and are not guilty of any sort of physical abuse. they are just the biggest cowards and pushovers on the planet. throw locks on the fridge and cabinets and let the kid cry his ham tears until he goes to bed on a normal diet. i read elsewhere that he can't make the 5-minute walk to school b/c he gets too tired or pukes on the way there. Make him walk every day and he'll get one step closer to school before he pukes and soon enough he'll make it the whole way.

I agree with everything you wrote except:

"the parents are not guilty of neglect"

Yes they most certainly are. They are allowing their child's health to suffer for no reason at all. It is their responsibility to protect their child (even from himself or them) and see to his well being. They are clearly ignoring and reglecting that responsibility as this child is not healthy in the least, and they are the ones causing him to not be healthy. They are clearly neglecting the health of their child. Would be no different than not feeding him at all, which I doubt anyone would argue isn't neglect.

I can understand disagreement on that point, but my view here is to distiguish between neglecting the general parental repsonsibilities and specifically neglecting the child. It is a fine line, but i think it can be drawn.

These parents are enablers of a very unhealthy lifestyle. There are a lot of these type of parents. This is a particularly easy case to single out beause of its extremity, but the parents' actions are no different than many; maybe a difference of 3 twinkies a week, but we wonuld't hear the govt clamoring about them. These parents are very involved in the child's life, they just suck at it. Neglect is a term I would reserve for non-parents, not stupid ones.

True, it's not neglect in the traditional sense. Most people think about a kid that's never fed and locked in a closet. However, overfeeding to the point of causing severe health issues still constitutes neglect. And just because other parents neglect the welfare of their children too, that doesn't change the fact that these particular parents are neglecting the welfare of their child.

[ironman]

:-t

reminds me of one of those Maury Povich shows with fat kids and one of the mothers said something like "my baby like hot-dogs so how can i tell him he cant have 12 hot-dogs"...it's like are you serious, you're his mother, just tell him he can't have 12 hot-dogs and let him cry for 5 minutes

Yeah those shows were terrible. Quite possibly the dumbest people I've ever seen. That is until I watched "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" last night.

I love it when the mother is crying and says stuff like, "We feed him 3 big macs and fries and he's still hungry! I just don't know what to do!"

Really, how stupid have we become?

[sportsaddict]

This is completely the parents fault. No excuses. At that age kids don't know how to eat healthy or anything like that. Its the parents' job to make sure they have a healthy diet and teach them good eating habits. 218 pounds is more than a lot of adults weigh, and this kid is eight.

[The Artful Dodger]

:-t

reminds me of one of those Maury Povich shows with fat kids and one of the mothers said something like "my baby like hot-dogs so how can i tell him he cant have 12 hot-dogs"...it's like are you serious, you're his mother, just tell him he can't have 12 hot-dogs and let him cry for 5 minutes

Exactly what I thought of when I read this thread. The worse part is that those mothers cry and say I can't see my child cry and they eventually cave in. Those parents get what they deserve, but unfortunately it comes at the expense of their kids' health. This definitely is neglect at another extreme.