This is what the Grow-Government Liberal Socialist Nanny State gets you --

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Council warning to families guilty of neglect

[www.timesonline.co.uk]

Amazing, who would have ever predicted that this would even be an issue. Even as little as 20 years ago it would have been laughable.

Depending on your point of view, it seems to me that fat-laden unhealthy nutrient-free food has a way of being very addicting. If you factor that into a situation where there isn't a lot of nutritional education or knowledge, it's a recipe for disaster, and its not all that unusual to see very overweight children accompanied by their very overweight parents. That is probably not at all politically correct to point out, but a fact is a fact.

But is that abuse?

Maybe. If the parent was providing any other known addictive substance to their child I am sure the choices would have to be questioned. And from a health perspective, the fatty diet is probably no better or easier on your health than any other addictive activity.

But wow, if it becomes a crime to have a fat child, what's next? Scary!

Sapphire

come on now. perhaps a real solution instead of such a dirty bandaid. that never heals anything.
education, legislation mandating healthy foods in restaurants and school cafeterias, a crack down on companies that put garbage into a box with flashy colours on the outside to entice children. how about some proper acknowledgement of the benefits of a stay at home mom? hmm? instead of shoving them back at work as soon as possible so they are forced to opt for quick prepackaged crap and delivery junk foods. why not try some nutrition courses (along with first aid, cpr and a bit of basic level psychology while we're at it) in grade and high school? foster a little healthy knowledge and lifestyle planning right from the start eh?

stupid politicians. they need to eat more greens (brain food).

You are so right about the marketing ploys coco - I don't know if you have ever had this experience, but it used to surprise me very much when my kids were toddlers and they would pick up boxes of things that I was certain they had never had before, but somehow, they just "knew" they liked those junky things.

The people who design those packages are evil geniuses!

The nutrition thing is so right - that should be a high school credit - along with handling your basic personal finances and some other things that are actually relevant to the life you will live in the real world. (like basic first aid, driving skills etc.) I am sure all the stuff they learn in school is very valuable but it seems that knowing all these basics would be a wonderful introduction to adult life that many seem to lack. The high schools touch on some of this stuff, but it's just fluff, nothing anyone takes very seriously from what I can tell.

But education really only goes so far. If the parent doesn't want to change, there's nothing much that can be done. Much like anything else.

BTW, they changed all the food served in my kids high school last year to much healthier choices. Now the kids all go to the fast food place across the street. There's one business person making a fortune in fast food! You can lead the horse to water....

Sapphire

they used to teach that stuff you know. it was called "home ec". my mom took it but by the time i was in school it has been to demolished to make way for more geography or some such valuable thing that i need to know to use on daily basis instead. *sarcasm* at the "intellectual" school that i went to there wasn't even a shop class to learn any basic electrical wiring, wood working or auto repair. don't you think Everyone should know how to do those things for themselves? it's neccessary to run a home, you can't get away from those things.
sometimes our liberalness shoots us right in the foot. art, drama, sewing, cooking, home ecomonics, basic home maintenance, they have all fallen to the wayside. why? kids are mess because of a lack of these skills! they didn't even offer a driving course in highschool when i went and guess what? NONE of my friends in toronto ever learned to drive. i'm serious, we don't know how to rewire a lamp, we can't budget (i have painstakingly taught myself) and only about 10% of my social group has a license. no wonder people are idiots about raising children eh? where are the basis lifeskills course?

It seems to me that how this got started - (this business of the state intervening with the custody of the overweight child)

Wasn't there a case last year in the UK where a dad sued for custody of his child (I forget if it was a boy or a girl), because the mom was not making the child exercise and not following healthy dietary practices and the child was morbidly obese. The father won custody, and months later, the news reporters went back to cover the story. The kid had lost a ton of weight, was much more active, more accepted at school and much happier all around. If everything was as it appeared, it seemed to be a success story.

Sounds great, and for the child to enjoy those kinds of benefits from the guidance of someone who genuinely loves them is one thing. I don't know if social services is quite so capable. It's really hard to make any kind of blanket rule about stuff like this because every case will be different and unique. Being obese is traumatic already, then to be ripped away from your family - sounds to me like that could really backfire despite any intentions to do good.

What do you think should happen Lois? Do the parents have the right to inflict that much damage on the kids life? Are they even at fault?

Sapphire

coco Wrote:
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they didn't even offer a driving
> course in highschool when i went and guess what?
> NONE of my friends in toronto ever learned to
> drive. i'm serious, we don't know how to rewire a
> lamp, we can't budget (i have painstakingly taught
> myself) and only about 10% of my social group has
> a license. no wonder people are idiots about
> raising children eh? where are the basis
> lifeskills course?


I have paid over $ 800.00 for each of my three kids (so far) who drive so that they could take driving lessons at an accredited driving school. It has killed me to raise that kind of money, not an easy thing for me at all within my personal budget constraints, but I am adamant that each of them will complete a course like this before they get behind the wheel by themselves. (and I do not believe I can offer the quality of instruction myself that a professional driving instructor can)

It's crazy that programs like this aren't subsidized - they will probably save the insurance and medical agencies a fortune when my kids don't get in as many accidents as their peers. Not only that, but it turns out I can't even claim it on my taxes as an education expense. In my opinion not only is that exactly what it is, but it should be required by every single young driver. In fact, not only should this not cost anything, there should be a monetary reward for completion of this type of training! (like cheap insurance...maybe some places, but not here). In the big picture there is a huge cost savings to so many, not to mention keeping the kids safer.

Sapphire

How Big Brother Watches Your Every Move

In our ever-growing surveillance society, the average Briton is being recorded 3,000 times a week.

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

I'll be the first to agree that there is an obesity epidemic in the USA..

I'll also agree that it is primarily due to a distinct lack of real home-cooked meals containing vegetables that have been replaced with high-fat, high-starch, high-sugar, high-salt manufactured & processed foods..

The substitution of regular soda pop containing high-fructose corn syrup & diet soda pop containing dopamine-triggering artificial sweeteners for clean potable water only exacerbates an already serious problem..

But, IMO, the real difference between when I was a child (1950's, 1960's, 1970's) & today is the fact that the average child currently gets MUCH less physical exercise than kids did when I was growing up..

Combine the lack of exercise with an atrocious diet & you get an obesity epidemic..

Then, add in the food conglomerates that are deliberately putting chemicals into foods for which the primary reason for them being on the ingredient list is to make the person eating the food want to eat more..

It's a terrible dilemma & I'm GLAD that I'm not a parent in today's world..

I know the pain & angst I've been enduring as I struggle to be raw..

I cannot even begin to imagine the angst of raising a child knowing that 99.99% of the food in a typical grocery store is harmful to eat in one way or another..

Good luck to all the parents here on this forum!!..I wish you & your children all the best!!..

Bruce

ridiculous

taking a kid away from a parent is going to solve obesity?

as if all social orphanages stock their fridges with organic dandelion greens, kale ripe papayas, raddichio, spinach, variety of cabbages, celery, apples, tangerines

i doubt it

really

i do

la_veronique Wrote:
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> ridiculous
>
> taking a kid away from a parent is going to solve
> obesity?
>
> as if all social orphanages stock their fridges
> with organic dandelion greens, kale ripe papayas,
> raddichio, spinach, variety of cabbages, celery,
> apples, tangerines
>
> i doubt it
>
> really
>
> i do



You are right la_v, taking the kid away will only cause mental trauma, and if you force the kid to eat the kind of foods you are listing and they are completely unfamiliar with those things it will seem like torture to them on top of anything else.

The trouble is, nobody chooses to be obese, and if the parents are in the throes of their own food addictions, how can they be expected to teach the kids good eating attitudes. That's like asking a (not sober) alcoholic to teach about sobriety, or a depressed person to teach about inner joy.

All of us parents lack certain skills. We are human, not perfect. Those of us who do have the ability to pass on this value to our kids should be very grateful for that, and very sympathetic to those who cannot. We all do the best we can with the competence and intelligence we have. I just wish there was a way to offer the parents of these kids the help they need and to persuade them to accept that help.

Sapphire

I was fat when I was a kid. I was such an emotional eater. Than I turned vegetarian when I was 11 because I loved animals. That helped me slim down some, but I was still chubby. Then I dabbled in bulemia and anorexia. When I was around 18 I became vegan, then later turned into a junk food vegan, then forgot about veganism for a year and as a vegetarian became fat once again... Then did the stupidest diet ever - The Atkins diet - only as a vegetarian, I ate soy meats, cheese, and veggies for about a year. I lost a lot of weight. Then I became vegan once again, found raw foods, and have never been happier, mentally. Physically it will take a lot of work until I will be able to be happy, Thanks to childhood obesity, eating disorders in my teens, followed by more obesity and then the Atkins diet.... well, even at less than my idol weight I was not happy. I now have emotional problems with food that even raw foodism cannot magically solve. But I am happy to eat the healthiest foods on the planet, happy to maintain a realistic weight, happy to know that when I have children they will not have to deal with the pain of being obese, instead they will burst with the energy of raw and living foods!

Sunflower
Raw Food Chef and Writer
Comfortably Raw
[www.comfortablyraw.com]

hey sunflower

i checked out yer site again

some of the pics of the food are to die for
i mean to live for

HEY!!!

Thanks La-veronique!! (o:

Sunflower
Raw Food Chef and Writer
Comfortably Raw
[www.comfortablyraw.com]