Take obese children from parent's custody?

[debilorrah]

Quote:
It is SOOO true that eating healthy is far more expensive. Sometimes people need to get creative in order to keep their family healthy. And alot of people are not aware HOW to get creative. Us here, we have eggs, and most have farmers markets. I recently struck a deal with a guy at a farmers market to trade the eggs for fresh produce.

But what do those in the inner cities do? Most are under educated in nutrition, know nothing about GMO foods, and they simply buy what is cheap. Ms. Obama started her garden off with a bang and very little public attention has been given to it since then and there was no education provided to people who live in large cities as to how to accomplish this themselves.

I believe the best thing for our countries children would be to wind the clock back to 1960 where there were few processed foods and most people grew at least some of their own produce. Not feasible, I know. So what IS the solution to this national problem? Education is key. And there are just not enough people out there willing to educate the poor on the proper ways to feed their family thinner.

To the issue the OP addressed: 500 lb toddlers are an anomaly, and a growing one at that. To even have a TV show about them is just a crime. THOSE parents need help and they need help NOW.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Anyway, I feel a lot better and I'm still on depression Meds at this time but I still have "those" kind of days once in a while.

Thank you so much for taking care of yourself, both by seeking help through meds (and counseling/friends?) and through the awesome power that is chickens. Depression is not an easy thing to deal with, and it takes a lot of strength just to acknowledge it and move to treat it. Best of luck to you.

I believe the best thing for our countries children would be to wind the clock back to 1960 where there were few processed foods and most people grew at least some of their own produce.

Aye, I remember learning about the 'victory gardens' in England during WWII. Definitely a good thing when produce is grown at home.

An interesting movement is aquaponics. Aquaponic systems can grow fish and veggies at the same time, have more yield on less space, can be stacked upwards, and can be pretty self-regulating in some systems, especially smaller ones. Husband and I are trying to put together our own on the cheap, but they sell kits now too. It's especially appealing to me because we both work full time, and need something we don't need to watch constantly, and do not want to use the water needed to have a traditional garden out in a desert area. These systems are closed, so the water usage is much lower. Still not feasible for everyone, but something interesting to look into perhaps for those who are into increasing what they grow at home.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Thanks to your mom that the school backed off. Sometimes schools are at their own evil in getting what the kids will eat like chicken nuggets and pizzas and they provide them. Nutritionous, no! Glad my daughter has choices, either she will eat what I fix or do without (having cereal) or PBJ sandwiches. Once in a great while she would love to eat and eat but eat the good thing!

 

[pistol123]

Later in life these young kids will come back and sue the state for the mental stress of being taken away from thier parents and how it affected their lives and the trauma it casued them and rightfully so. I was always' a very thin child and I remember my poor mother begging me to eat. Teachers thought she was not feeding me enough, what if they would have taken me? I'm still thin and always' will be. Someday all this will back fire!

 

[FourPawz]

Quote:
WHAT

in Canada we have something called the "Cheap food Policay" so stores have to sell things at a good price. Around here a bag of grapes is slightly above or below 4.00

I guess it depends on where you are.. grapes go for $1.99 - $3.99 a lb here

Aside from our currency getting weaker, driving up prices, here is food for thought (pun intended). In this day and age, we have fruits and many vegetables available all year long because much of it is imported from other places. Of course grapes will be $4.00 a pound if they're not in season here. Grapes do go down in price at certain times of the year. Right now there are great deals on peaches, and in a couple of months we'll have apples available.

If one fruit is too expensive, choose another that isn't brought in from thousands of miles away. Unsweetened applesauce is still reasonable and there are always canned fruits.

A couple of months ago zucchini was off the charts, now it's .99 a pound.

 

[ChicksterJo]

I am so glad you brought locality up, FourPawz.

I read a book about a writer who up and moved her family back to her roots (on the East coast from Arizona) and they started eating and purchasing ONLY veggies and fruits and even protein available in that locality. If bananas didn't grow there, they had to give up bananas. It was a nice read and they had their difficulties but they didn't starve. The great part was that they saved a lot of money.

I know how hard it is to keep foods healthy if you have no money or no extra money to spend on the "healthier" stuff. I was in college and I had to buy my share of Ramen noodles and live on beans and rice for a couple of days at a time. But I also saved money to buy fresh vegetables and nutritious protein. I was making complicated dishes in the dormitory kitchen while others were heating up their bowl of Ramen. I began to only eat Ramen when I didn't have time to make anything else (which was for morning classes...).

During high school I remember having almost an hour of P.E. everyday. That was only 5 years ago. A lot has changed - for the worse, I guess. We also didn't have any soda machines or chip machines in school. I brought my lunch everyday - and everyday usually meant a peanut butter sandwich and yogurt. I also had a nutrition/health class, but it was also a cooking class and we all learned how to make good food because we brought in good food once a week to share. That would be a fun class, I think, for many high school students.

Anyway, I am trying to be a locavore, and that is difficult, but I do think it would save people money.

And no, I would not advocate taking away obese kids from their parents. They need their parents' support ( and I know when I was overweight as a kid, and I was taunted, even by my parents sometimes, I was depressed...).

 

[teach1rusl]

Okay - back to the "should they take a child away for being morbidly obese?" And I'm thinking of the child someone mentioned earlier, not even of school age and weighing several hundred pounds. Assuming it's not a medical issue, I'm surprised that no doctor along the way would have put in a report of either suspected child abuse or child neglect (definitely neglecting health). Perhaps an assigned social/case worker could have worked with the parent on nutrition/health as a result of some doc calling in. The parent could then either begin work on "fixing" the problem or not. If not, then I do feel that it's child abuse. I'm not talking just an overweight kid, but one that is considered "morbidly obese" (with no medical issue as the cause). I think that child is being harmed just as much (physically AND emotionally) as parents who have home meth labs or parents who are physically abusive.

 

[cdnley]

I am a nutritionist (BSc in Human Nutrition) and this sort of issue really bothers me.

Do I think an obese child should be taken from their parents? This is a loaded question. Rather than threatening to lose custody they should have a program that teaches parents and their children nutrition and cooking techniques. Perhaps a field trip to a grocery store and education on label reading and product information. Help people who want to be helped though.

I do hold the food companies responsible for what is happening to society these days. Long shelf life and ready to eat = bad bad bad for you. High sugar, salt, fat, and calories with low nutrition and a lot of added fillers and disgusting ingredients. If you froze a homemade meal how long would it take before it degraded (lost flavor, color, seperated etc). Probably not very long...yet these freezer foods don't "expire" for 6-9 months. Food companies want to maximize profits and they could care less who is getting heavier/cancers/diseases. The best thing to do is learn to cook at home and eat fresh daily. Not only will you increase your nutritional status but you will lose weight.

Contrary to popular belief cooking fresh is not more $$ because you feel a lot more satisfied. I am not sure who would feel satisfied after eating a bag of chips as compared to eating some oven baked potatoes (drizzled with olive oil and salt). You would feel full longer because you are getting a more filling experience. Same thing with eating mixed nuts instead of a granola bar or dark chocolate almonds instead of a super sweet chocolate bar.

People need to train themselves to eat healthy. This does take work initially but it just becomes like everything else; it is a lifelong lifestyle but it pays off! Children observe their parents and their attitudes toward food and nutrition and use that in their own lives. The thing is many people don't have the knowledge to make these healthier decisions and that is the key to reshaping our society.

 

[chickmchickie]

WelsummerChicks.. do you believe that should happen? Was wondering by your title and your post.. Some times when something bothers people they post about it otherwise if a person didn't care they wouldn't be a post about it.. just asking and i haven't seen any kids obese some chubby yes.. and we are in the far north where people here are bigger due to 9 months of winter..

 

[chickmchickie]

Have any of you watched Jamie Olivers food revolution? His shows are goign into schools getting them to feed the kids better foods and also some food places and fast food places as well its really something you might want to watch..