signalsObese 8 Year Old May Be Taken Into Custody
February 27th 2007 16:32
The news today - a 218- pound 8 year old (I didn't see anything on height, but probably pretty short) might be taken into custody in the UK. Apparently he eats double or triple what a regular 8 year old eats and sneaks and hides food. His mom is obviously being implicated in this because she is "neglecting" him and has missed appointments with social workers, nutritionists, etc.
The article I read had a doctor speculating he would most likely die by age 30.
What strikes me is, how is this kid so different from all the other overweight kids we see every day? Children younger than 8, I've seen some 4 or 5 year olds who clearly need to lose some excess weight.
However I do believe it's up to the parents to promote healthy eating habits and control what kids eat, to some extent. Sure, it would be nice if they could make healthy choices for themselves, but at 8 or younger, do you really expect them to know good nutrition?
There was a TV show I saw, and I forget what channel or what the show was, but it was basically an intervention by a nutritionist who went into the homes of overweight, unhealthy families and tried to get them to change in 3 weeks. She showed them projected images of what they would all look like as adults at various ages (these were extremely disturbing) and encouraged them to make changes every week. Sounds like this kid and his mother could use that show!
I think junk food ads are partly to blame too, along with school cafeterias. Kids see these commercials on TV and they want it, even if it's unhealthy, because it looks good to eat. Then they go to their cafeterias, which mostly have horrifying choices and hardly a single vegetable. No one's going to care if all they get is cookies and pizza!
I'd love to read other thoughts on this.
Claire S.
The article I read had a doctor speculating he would most likely die by age 30.
What strikes me is, how is this kid so different from all the other overweight kids we see every day? Children younger than 8, I've seen some 4 or 5 year olds who clearly need to lose some excess weight.
There was a TV show I saw, and I forget what channel or what the show was, but it was basically an intervention by a nutritionist who went into the homes of overweight, unhealthy families and tried to get them to change in 3 weeks. She showed them projected images of what they would all look like as adults at various ages (these were extremely disturbing) and encouraged them to make changes every week. Sounds like this kid and his mother could use that show!
I think junk food ads are partly to blame too, along with school cafeterias. Kids see these commercials on TV and they want it, even if it's unhealthy, because it looks good to eat. Then they go to their cafeterias, which mostly have horrifying choices and hardly a single vegetable. No one's going to care if all they get is cookies and pizza!
I'd love to read other thoughts on this.
Claire S.
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