Should Parents Lose Custody Of Super Obese Kids?

[Armistead]

State intervention "ideally will support not just the child but the whole family, with the goal of reuniting child and family as soon as possible. That may require instruction on parenting," said Ludwig, who wrote the article with Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and a researcher at Harvard's School of Public Health."

That's what scares me, states are broke, now we add more debt. In the end it may be cheaper than medicare. First, they should make the parents pay all cost if they have the money, if they can buy all that food they should.

Why severe cases are a problem, 40% of youth today are generally overweight. They say this will cause a huge problem for medicare as they will be a diseased generation in their 30's.

In the end it won't amount to much. I see big lawsuits going all the way to the supreme court if any law passes, millions in lawyer fees, government studies, red tape, etc...Like most things it will be a big waste.

[Anthony W.]

Originally Posted by Armistead

That's what scares me, states are broke, now we add more debt. In the end it may be cheaper than medicare. First, they should make the parents pay all cost if they have the money, if they can buy all that food they should.

Nope - my state isn't. We have an over 1 billion dollar surplus.


I do think it's horrible when kids get that fat. No bones about it, it's just plain wrong. It hurts their mental and physical health.

I have friends that are - well - pretty damn big. They take flak for it all the time. Hell, I've taken flak for being football lineman sized - which isn't even legitimately fat. I'm working my ass off (literally) to get back in shape.

Do I think the states should have the right to take kids away? Hell no. That's a lot like a book I read, where kids are raised by the government.

I do think that at school, what they eat for lunch should be limited (I can get as many trays of food as I can afford at my school). Also, it doesn't make any sense to say that anything like that would be putting them in the spotlight. Their size puts them in the spotlight already.

Something should be done - but with this subject, the line between regulation and outright control is nearly invisible.