The Skinny on Obesity

I was listening to the BBC on my local NPR station a few weeks ago when I heard something that got me hopping mad.  This happens sometimes.  I usually end up writing an angry letter, but now that I have a blog, I can write a post AND an angry letter.

I really try not to wax philosophical about things I know nothing about.  But the problem is that I know nothing about a lot of things.  And the things I do know, I can usually see both sides of the argument, which is really annoying when you’re trying to be opinionated about something.

Anyway, they were discussing childhood obesity in Great Britain.  See, this isn’t even my country.  But, it could be.  It seems that the fat level of British children is reaching epidemic proportions (sounds vaguely familiar).  Several experts have suggested that parents of overweight kids are negligent, even abusive, and that the state should be allowed, if it feels like it, to remove the child from the parents’ care. 

Not to trivialize an important issue, but obesity has many contributing factors.  Of course, there’s the state of our current diet and lifestyle.  The fact that it’s easier to Supersize fries than braise kale (or, when McDonald’s takes the Supersizes off the menu, ordering two large fries because there’s no law against it).  Sometimes, there’s a genetic component.  But then, there’s also that teeny tiny issue of self-esteem.  And I can think of nothing so morale-boosting as being ripped from the arms of your loving parents.  Or even your non-loving parents.  Mmmmm, it’s making me hungry just thinking about it.

I didn’t have this kind of weight problem growing up.  Mine was more an issue of chronic skinniness.  It didn’t matter how much I ate, I could never get ahead of the curve.  Just kept growing.  Upwards (though, I eventually topped out at a disappointing 5’3”).  This was during the Amazing Processed Foods Revolution of the 1970’s, so it should have been easy to gain weight.  The government got suspicious. 

The state tried to intervene in my upbringing, telling my mom to get with the program by adding more fatty foods to my diet, maybe cut down on so much outdoor play.  But she shunned expert advice and kept providing healthy snacks, enforcing vigorous Hula Hooping, and would even chase the ice cream man down the street with a garden hoe.  What a wacko!  Some days, I dreamed that Social Services would show up at my door just so I could have a candy bar.  I was never so lucky.

When it comes to weight-related custody battles, while my inner 10-year-old thinks that a big brouhaha with police, restraining orders, and maybe even a spot on the local news would be totally awesome, the parent in me thinks the rehabilitation is worse than the crime.  Maybe, there's another way.

(Incidentally, my favorite part of the story was when one of the experts being interviewed called the overweight 8-year-old in question a “freak.”  Does the word “freak” mean something different in British English, by any chance?)

Comments

[Sister]

I can tell, what with the brilliance of the "experts" involved, that they've thoroughly thought this through and have a steadfast plan to execute.

I'm sure that they've already lined up the replacement parents for said freaks, and that these replacement parents have all been properly trained in parenting, nutrition, and child psychology (you know, to curb the trauma part of being fat, and displaced).

I'm sure they've also lined up the funding to pay for the removal and re-placement of said freaks (including the issuance of a large supply of back support belts... you know... due to the fact that the kids will probably put up a fight... and they're porkers).

I heard that Wendy, Ronald and Jack I.T. Box are some of the biggest sponsors, with more expected from our chihuahua loving friends just south of the border...

While their at it, they should remove stupid children from the care of their parents, because clearly that's the fault of the parents as well. Stupidity should also be nipped in the bud early, as these stupid children run the risk of becoming tomorrow's U.S. presidents and/or "experts" on BBC news...

[squeezyB]

I'm so angry, I can't think of anything to say. Witty or otherwise. People stink. Wait - there are no doubt some stinky children out there that need to be removed from their parents IMMEDIATELY.

[Ash]

I think what they're trying to get at is the apparent inability of the parents to bring themselves to offer the kids decent food and how the kids won't accept it when they do.

A while ago I watched on BBC news about a school in the UK that had banned vending machines and instituted healthy lunches and the parents were actually buying the kids fries from the shop down the road and delivering them to school because they said (and I quote), 'our kids shouldn't have to eat that crap', meaning the fruit, vegetables, yoghurt and brown bread now offered in the canteen. It's a big problem.

Part of it stems from an 'entitlement culture' - my child is entitled to eat whatever they want and 'so what' to anyone who says otherwise, and the NHS can pay to fix them when they get too fat to walk because that's what they are there for.

Part of it stems from that junk food is, as always, cheaper to manufacture and sell than healthier food, so bingo! of course poorer families buy it.

But part of it does stem from pure stupidity, and a good deal of negligence or just laziness to try and change things. I won't even go into the lack of exercise in schools/neighbourhoods.

I was a fat kid (not in the UK), but my problem was purely eating too much. There are kids who know when to stop and there are kids who don't, and if the parent in charge does what the kid wants when the kid is one of the latter, it can be a disaster.

Not that I agree that the state should intervene, but there should definitely be some responsibility taken on the part of the parents for some of these incredibly obese children. (By incredibly obese, I mean BMI in the +45 range at age 9.)

[Tammy]

Good comment, Ash. Thanks for it. Parents are a child’s best advocates, so I think there’s no denying a huge responsibility on the part of parents. What gets me viscerally, though, is the state wanting to micromanage people’s personal lives to that degree.

When you don’t know much about nutrition and didn’t grow up farming, it’s not always easy to get into a healthy lifestyle pattern when you’re bombarded with misinformation and toxic food on every street corner. I think lots of things at the local level are being done to combat this, but there still needs to be more awareness at the community level. That’s what I think will make a difference. And I think the government would be helpful in an education role and enforcing changes to the public schools, for example. Maybe even protecting the real food we grow.

But, parenting is always going to be controversial because, sadly, people are always going to make mistakes. I’m not sure there’s any avoiding this.

SqueezyB, maybe we can have a stinky child swap? If we rotate them often enough, the government might become dizzy and disoriented, and get thrown off the trail.

Sister, you forgot that stupid children, in addition to running for president and becoming talking heads, might start writing blogs. It seems that they didn’t take us away from our parents fast enough (well, me, at least; you’re plenty smart).

Anyone else have thoughts/want to kick my ass?

[sunny12]

Britain may be going overboard on the supposed child obesity crisis, but the child in question is 300 pounds. Some sort of change is required, and I don't think mom will be able to fix it at this point.

[discount pharmacy online]

parents should teach there children about eating healthy and what kind of food they are going to eat.