Is childhood obesity abuse? Parents arrested because son is overweight, say neglect not to blame

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The British parents of a 210-pound, 5-foot-1-inch, 11-year-old boy were arrested and later released on bail on the grounds of neglect, saying that his obesity is due to their inability to help their child reduce his 41.8 BMI (body mass index)(1). However, the parents maintain that their child’s favorite snack is broccoli and that they’ve tried to encourage healthier habits, such as exercise. Yet he remains severely overweight despite these actions, and the reason provided for his excess weight is common: “He’s always been big. He was born with shovels for hands and spades for feet,” says his father. “Everyone on my side of the family is big. There’s nothing we can do about it (1).”

Police were initially alerted to the possible neglect by Queen Elizabeth hospital doctors who treated the boy twice in one month. The parents were questioned, and even signed up to participate in a plan to get his weight under control after they were faced with legal action earlier in the year. Still, they were not successful, and now the boy remains at risk for being taken into care by authorities who maintain that the child’s health is in jeopardy due to possible parental neglect.

This isn’t the first time the link between child obesity and child neglect has been made. In 2009, a South Carolina woman named Jerri Gray made headlines for being charged with criminal neglect and her son was put into foster care (3). The reason? Her 14-year-old son was tipping the scales at 555 pounds. While it’s been said that Gray provided her son with foods in accordance to the state’s Department of Social Services nutritional guidelines, she still could not monitor what he ate in unsupervised settings such as school.

Experts voice different opinions on the issue of neglect and obesity

Linda Spears, vice president of policy and public affairs for the Child Welfare League of America, feels that criminal charges are unnecessarily harsh penalties for overweight families. “I think I would draw the line at a place where there are serious health consequences for the child and efforts to work with the family have repeatedly failed,” she says (3).

However, some say it’s necessary for authorities to step in.

An article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests that obesity be treated with the same standards and accepted guidelines as any other health condition in that when it’s not properly treated, addressed or involves neglect, warrants the need for extra attention. In the case of obesity, it’s a ” . . . well accepted reason for a child protection registration (4).”

Where is the line drawn in helping the obese?

On one hand, I feel this is an invasion of privacy, a “1984” George Orwell-esque example of people who live life not as they want, but in accordance to the guidelines that those in protective positions suggest is necessary.

For example, I ate lots of ice cream cakes filled with chocolate crunchies as a child, purchased by my parents, who also ate the same sugary snacks. However, I also ventured to the candy store many times after school with friends and ate school-prepared meals consisting of pizza, fries and chocolate milk. While I never weighed 555 or even 210 pounds, I always had the tendency to be chubby in grade and junior high school. Had people come knocking at our door, or doctors called the police over the matter, I can only imagine how unsettling it would have been for our loving family.

And what about the instances as an adult, before I lost 70 pounds, when I used to consume vending machine candy bars for “dinner” while working long work hours? Should I have had a “speaking to” by authorities? Should my boss have been given a warning by police for having donuts grace the presence of every meeting, knowingly contributing to the obesity epidemic?

Of course not.

On the other hand, making it this personal may be just the wake-up call some families need. It often takes something that really hits home, even if it shakes people loose from the comfy, soda-sipping sofas of those homes and disrupts routines, to put in place the serious thoughts, discussions and actions that may mean the difference between a long and healthy life . . . or not.

What are your thoughts? Should authorities step in when it comes families with obese children? Is childhood obesity abuse? Or should families be left alone in this matter?

Sources for this article include:

(1) http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/parents-arrested-letting-child-overweight-article-1.1820725

(2) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/parents-arrested-on-suspicion-of-child-cruelty-after-their-son-reaches-15-stone-9498077.html

(3) http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2009-07-20-obesityboy_N.htm

(4) http://healthland.time.com/2010/07/16/is-childhood-obesity-a-symptom-of-neglect/

Jennifer