Should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

[EveningStar]

AP via wten.com:

 

Lindsey Tanner

July 13, 2011

 

Should parents of extremely obese children lose custody for not controlling their kids' weight? A provocative commentary in one of the nation's most distinguished medical journals argues yes, and its authors are joining a quiet chorus of advocates who say the government should be allowed to intervene in extreme cases.

 

It has happened a few times in the U.S., and the opinion piece in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association says putting children temporarily in foster care is in some cases more ethical than obesity surgery.

[Jill]

Usually the parent(s) of these children are obese as well, and they are at greater risks than the children are, since they are older. It makes no sense for the government to intervene, they are bloated and fat as well, but in a different way. The nanny state can't afford to worry about fat kids these days, and they can't do anything right, either. Butt out.

[Pepper]

Jill

 

And how about the choice from the Nanny Gov and JAMA:

Ma'am, your boy is OBESE. We either have to take him away or we will need to perform surgery.

[pollyannaish]

Unbelievable. Are obese kids a good thing. Of course not. But I get very nervous when the government starts deciding it can intervene when it thinks it knows better. Next thing you know, they'll be telling us exactly what we must teach our kids for them to be "healthy."

 

Scary.

[pollyannaish]

I also have a very serious question:

 

What is the percentage of super obese people who are on public assistance, compared to the normal population? Perhaps they should be denied welfare if they are obese. Think the left will go for that?

[Sabre86]

Unbelievable. Are obese kids a good thing. Of course not. But I get very nervous when the government starts deciding it can intervene when it thinks it knows better. Next thing you know, they'll be telling us exactly what we must teach our kids for them to be "healthy."

 

Scary.

 

This is exactly where it would go. If you don't teach your kids the liberal approved doctrine, the state will take them and do it for you. Just like they did in Nazi Germany.

[Sabre86]

I also have a very serious question:

 

What is the percentage of super obese people who are on public assistance, compared to the normal population? Perhaps they should be denied welfare if they are obese. Think the left will go for that?

 

I would say probably 75% or more. The only grocery store anywhere near my house that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is where all of the welfare people go since it is also the closest to the poor area of town. The two stores in that area of town closed a few years ago.

 

All I see them buying with their Lone Star Card is garbage. Few if ever buy fruits, vegetables, or anything healthy. It is all junk food type stuff. All of their kids are like walking beach balls, to one degree or another. I know this might sounds prejudiced, but probably 90% are minorities and the majority do not speak English. I can literally go into that store and only hear Spanish or Ebonics except from the employees.

[pollyannaish]

I also have a very serious question:

 

What is the percentage of super obese people who are on public assistance, compared to the normal population? Perhaps they should be denied welfare if they are obese. Think the left will go for that?

 

I would say probably 75% or more. The only grocery store anywhere near my house that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is where all of the welfare people go since it is also the closest to the poor area of town. The two stores in that area of town closed a few years ago.

 

All I see them buying with their Lone Star Card is garbage. Few if ever buy fruits, vegetables, or anything healthy. It is all junk food type stuff. All of their kids are like walking beach balls, to one degree or another. I know this might sounds prejudiced, but probably 90% are minorities and the majority do not speak English. I can literally go into that store and only hear Spanish or Ebonics except from the employees.

 

So then my question is, which comes first...the obesity or the welfare? I'm mostly just looking at this as a public policy issue. It seems to me that to a large extent, all this focus on obesity is treating the SYMPTOMS rather than the disease. Like giving someone with a hangover, rather than addressing the issues that cause the hangovers. But I may be oversimplifying and making assumptions based on negative stereotypes...

[Sabre86]

So then my question is, which comes first...the obesity or the welfare? I'm mostly just looking at this as a public policy issue. It seems to me that to a large extent, all this focus on obesity is treating the SYMPTOMS rather than the disease. Like giving someone with a hangover, rather than addressing the issues that cause the hangovers. But I may be oversimplifying and making assumptions based on negative stereotypes...

 

I think welfare breeds obesity. The mentality of people who are lifetime welfare slaves basically just do not seem to care about anything, not even themselves or their children.

[pollyannaish]

So then my question is, which comes first...the obesity or the welfare? I'm mostly just looking at this as a public policy issue. It seems to me that to a large extent, all this focus on obesity is treating the SYMPTOMS rather than the disease. Like giving someone with a hangover, rather than addressing the issues that cause the hangovers. But I may be oversimplifying and making assumptions based on negative stereotypes...

 

I think welfare breeds obesity. The mentality of people who are lifetime welfare slaves basically just do not seem to care about anything, not even themselves or their children.

 

I think so too, but I'd like to see some data to discover whether that is really the case or not.

 

Knowing what I do about human nature, I would suspect that when you are handed something without having to take responsibility for attaining it--even if it isn't a lot--you are learning to indulge yourself without consequence and without brakes. I bet you can take a relatively normal sized family, put them on welfare and within a couple of generations they will be fatter, less responsible for maintenance of their own belongings, and less motivated to break the cycle. I actually think that looking at what has happened on many Indian reservations is a good example of this.

 

Having the responsibility to provide for oneself is a huge break on our behavior. I think of this often in response to Health Insurance and Social Security.

 

As I always tell my kids ... choices have consequences. At least they do for most people.

[Pepper]

So then my question is, which comes first...the obesity or the welfare? I'm mostly just looking at this as a public policy issue. It seems to me that to a large extent, all this focus on obesity is treating the SYMPTOMS rather than the disease. Like giving someone with a hangover, rather than addressing the issues that cause the hangovers. But I may be oversimplifying and making assumptions based on negative stereotypes...

 

I think welfare breeds obesity. The mentality of people who are lifetime welfare slaves basically just do not seem to care about anything, not even themselves or their children.

 

 

 

 

 

Waaaaaaaa