Over the past 20 years, the rates of obesity, particularly childhood obesity, have doubled! Obesity is defined by body mass index (BMI), a measure of body mass based on the proportionality of height and weight. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), "a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight; and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese." By this measure, about 1/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 of them are obese. More specifically, the famed National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) reports that about 16% of children and adolescents aged 6-19 are obese.
Who is to blame for the growing rates of childhood obesity? According to the state of South Carolina, parents are to blame... and should consequently be prosecuted! Check the vid below:
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Parents should definitely be held accountable for the obesity of their children. Esp. b/c obesity does not occur over a few months. There are plenty of watning signs for a gew years, I’d say. Plus there is a difference with husky/thick, fat, more than fact. At the husky/thick stages of a child, the parents should take notice that their kids are larger than the normal/healthy weight for their child’s age and height by monitoring eating habits and increasing physical activity. This is the reason for the charge of neglect. If parent do nothing → “neglect” → @ this stage and continue to do nothing once the child is overweight, then fat, then obese they have not put the child’s best interest as a priority. Neglect signifies that something (i.e. obesity) could have been avoided had a responsible party (i.e. the parent) taken action. Our society does not make taking action easy though. How many people remember “happy plates” as a child? Yes…no…maybe that was just me. What about ‘you better eat all your food because there are children starving in [insert random country known for malnutritioned children]?” it is in our culture to eat what’s in front of you, not just enough to survive or be satisfied. But it is the parent’s responsibility to control the type and portion of food that is placed in front of the child. Another issue of course is the dilemma of being poor in America. You can only afford so much food, and the food that you can buy is not the healthiest…in order to eat healthier, you need to pay more money…but, you can only afford so much food in the first place. For this matter, as far as placing criminal charges on the parents, I’d say at most the charge should be a misdemeanor one. If nothing, social services should be asked to step in to observe the causes in the homes and lives of the obese children and provide suggestions or resources for the familes. Socioeconomic status should definitely be considered in the discussion of obesity but it is not an excuse for it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree Monique. It is truly difficult to blame SOMEBODY when it comes to childhood obesity, because there are so many factors that play into it. Although if a child is malnourished and underweight, the blame is on the parent, who's responsibility is to protect and provide for their child. It is hard to say that a parent who is "feeding their child too much" is also at fault. I do believe socioeconomic status plays a very large role in this issue. If you drive through a low income neighborhood, what do you see? Since I live in one, I can tell you that all you see are corner stores, that one gas station with 3 pumps out, liquor stores galore, and maybe one SHOP and SAVE or FAST AND FRIENDLY down the block. In the immediate area, there is really no true grocery store, with healthy choices. In the corner store by my house, there isn't even fruit offered, just candy, soda and chips. Oh of course and pig feet. Besides inconvenience, you have ignorance coming into play as well. What does it mean to eat healthy? A lot of people (not just low income) have no idea what that means!! This issue is truly more complex than just parental neglect. There are some issues with our CULTURE. I agree that at most the mother should get a misdemeanor, but I really believe this family needs guidance and help more than anything. You can blame people all you want, but that child is still OBSESE, which means more than just fat, it means their lives are in DANGER. I feel like we spend more time trying to find a scapegoat than an actual solution.
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