[candymosh]

Extreme Obesity Treated As Child Neglect

Updated: Wednesday, 13 Jul 2011, 8:37 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 13 Jul 2011, 5:47 PM CDT

DAMALI KEITH

DAMALI KEITH
Reporter

HOUSTON - If a child is dangerously overweight, should the parents be forced to give up custody?

An editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association argues in favor of removing kids if their obesity is out of control.

== You Can Lose Your Kids ==

It might sound radical but a few states already allow it. Texas is one of them.

You may be surprised to know Child Protective Services can already take custody of your child if he or she is extremely obese. The law allows the state of Texas to remove that child under the category of abuse or medical neglect.

Most parents believe it's their constitutional right to raise their kid how they want, which is correct to a certain degree.

It's also on the books the state can take custody of a kid who is severely obese in certain instances.

== Some Parents Cry Foul ==

"That's crazy. It's not fair. It's not right. I don't think parents should be separated from their kids," says mother Tiffany Curette.

"Losing custody of an obese child? I think that's bordering on some sort of violation. I think it's getting a little unconstitutional," says father Conrad Rivera.

The state could only step in if a doctor says the obese child's life is in danger, according to CPS.

"If it's really affecting their health, then yes, they should lose their (child)," says mother of 2 Jessica Chavez.

"I think there should be some kind of probationary thing, but in terms of taking full custody or taking a child away from a parent, I think that's wrong," adds Conrad.

== Distrust for the System ==

"Do we really believe a child in foster care is going to get better treatment than being with their parents? I think most often when we look at that issue we think there's no way the state or someone else can raise our children in a better way," says Dr. Bob Sanborn, President of Houston's Children At Risk.

Sanborn says it's good we're now talking about childhood obesity. Now, he says we just need to do something about it.

"Probably the best solution, rather than taking the kids away, is to say ok we're going to have parental training on what's nutritious and tell what the kids should be doing as far as exercise," says Sanborn.

== A Rare Situation ==

So many people are responding. Some are even left horrified by this debate over if parents should lose custody of obese kids.

Our local CPS officials wanted to talk and break it down for us to explain just how rare it is for an obese child to be removed from their home. However, the state agency decided against allowing them to take part in this controversial custody discussion.

Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news...#ixzz1S2qIwZWL

[candymosh]

What a clusterfuck. The parents shouldn't let the kids get to a point where their health is effected....the pediatricians should start getting some nutritional training going for parents when the weight starts getting out of control.

[kandystar]

I don't agree with this. As my local news put it, it's not entirely the parents' fault. American media may be obsessed with being thin but children's (junk) food aren't getting any healthier (that I know of.) Most kids are picky, anyway. And sometimes it's genetic.

[Hvergelmir]

You could change the body of the original post to "to McDonalds", and it'd be a lot funnier.

[DollHead]

It really is baffling how fat people can get. How does it happen? I can barely eat a cup of rice without getting ridiculously full and staying that way for the entire day and part of the next! Then there are people who eat over 10,000 calories a day. Makes me want to throw up just thinking about it.

[Hvergelmir]

I eat a lot, but I'm also huge(6'4"), and I have a physical job(Farm Hand).

[candymosh]

obesity doesn't happen over night. I don't see how some of these parents let their kids get the size they get. Even if it's a medical issue rather than actual food intake, you would think at some point the child's gerth would cause the parents to seek some medical advice.

[slapchoppa]

instead of taking the kids away educate the parents on proper nutrition for their children, and themselves. implement a program where produce is more affordable to lower income families. allow these families FREE access to sports or gyms. if the family chooses to let their child eat a bucket of chicken for breakfast, a package of bacon for snack and 3 tubs of ice cream before bed, then this is clearly more than just ignorance of proper nutrition..and should be dealt with accordingly. a visit by maury povich and his camera crews, perhaps? haha..
for real, though, no need to break up a family over them being fat. there are lots of fat adults out there, how should they be dealt with? public stoning?!

[Shawna]

I blame this on lazy parents.

[malcon]

Picky? Hahahaha.............Look kids don't make money! They don't do the grocery shopping! How did that kid end up with a box of donuts and a 2 liter of coke?? YOU! Nobody takes responsibility for shit anymore! Honestly my kids have gotten kinda picky lately, but I still buy the same foods. Period. If you dont like pork chops mashed potatoes and green beans.....oh fucking well. No dinner for you. Kids will not die without a meal or two. It will teach them to eat the goddamn food I put in front of them though! Ok sorry done ranting! Take care all!