Is the weight relevant here, I get that it’s abuse through not providing a sensible eating habits but seems odd to mention it in the title as it’s fairly clear.
-edit I’d mis-understood the article, I had assumed it was an accidental death not related to the weight, the guardian article was more clear.
I remember a kid in reception, so four years old, who weighed more than his teacher did (a 5’0, petite woman who must have been ~100lbs). The parents were brought in to discuss the issue as the kid could not even get his coat on by himself because of how round he was. Dad did not care and thought it was a good thing as it showed he could provide well for his son. The kid had to sit on a chair during assembly because he could not get off the ground without help (something the whole school saw at the end of his first assembly). It was tragic and I hope the kid got the help he needed eventually, otherwise he will also end up at risk of premature death like this poor girl was.
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I hadn’t realised parents could be prosecuted for obesity related deaths of children, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but find it surprising.
If a child’s parents had starved her to death it would attract no controversy at all that they should be charged for it. Feeding a child to death is just as neglectful.
Thankfully that poor child will at least have justuce. I deeply wish the US would prosecute this awful child neglect leading to morbid obesity in children. It’s a massive epidemic here, & nobody seems to give a fuck that these kids are never going to be able to live a normal healthy life.
They are forced through neglect to develop in these hulking frames, and it makes it damned bear impossible for them to try & become healthy once they achieve adult independence.
If we held the adults responsible when a child dies of obesity complications, there would be hope of a swift turnaround for this abuse.
Lifelong eating habits begin when we’re toddlers and children. Parents are directly responsible for establishing the fundamentals for their children.
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No doubt the mother is culpable, but what about the food companies and supermarkets who make billions in profits from selling cheap junk food which is packed full of sugar, fat, and salt? Will they be held accountable?
There is no excuse for being fat especially obese, and to do that to your child is just as neglectful as starving them to death.
I have issues with lots of things about this case, rewarding people for pleading guilty feels like anti-justice to me, especially in this case where the mother will feel responsible whether she is or not.
Morbid obesity is caused by either epigenetic settings, or psychological problems. Point is i don’t think this will be some horror case of force feeding, she will have been seeking food and acting hungry. If the parents crime is keeping the kitchen stocked, that doesn’t seem fair.
On the other hand if i had a dog that was morbidly obese, i would be to blame 100%. Kids aren’t pets, but they are not adults with full autonomy either, its a difficult case.
One big question is; Where the hell were social services? Presumably she went to school, teachers, guidance counselors, they should all share some blame for this. Our social services failed this girl and none of the articles I’ve read even mention this.
I cried at hearing this story. It was in the middle of covid, and I don’t know all the details, but it breaks my heart to see a child die so miserably.
Desperately sad story but there’s a little more to the tale than simply labelling it as child abuse.
This was a woman caring for a child with fairly marked disabilities and given the state of things I would imagine a fairly minimal level of support from professionals that might be able to drag them off the path they were on.
Hell, it’s nigh impossible to get psych support for suicidal patients, never mind problematic eating habits.
Am I the only one who thinks this is super problematic? Is there anyway to prove that she wouldn’t have died if the parents restricted her eating? We actually know very little about obesity.
For example, my family is naturally thin. I could eat junk food all day and still be thin.
How do you know she wasn’t predisposed to be obese?
And the article says the girl had other health issues like spina bifida and water in her brain. These seem like birth defects to me. Not sure how they could have been caused by obesity.
I think there is absolutely no way to prove the mother caused the death.
They never even explicitly say but what did the mother do to cause the death? Feed her too much?
And they mention she didn’t exercise but she was in a wheelchair and also there isn’t a ton of evidence that exercise makes you thinner so I’m not sure why this would even be related to the obesity claim.
14 comments
Is the weight relevant here, I get that it’s abuse through not providing a sensible eating habits but seems odd to mention it in the title as it’s fairly clear.
-edit I’d mis-understood the article, I had assumed it was an accidental death not related to the weight, the guardian article was more clear.
I remember a kid in reception, so four years old, who weighed more than his teacher did (a 5’0, petite woman who must have been ~100lbs). The parents were brought in to discuss the issue as the kid could not even get his coat on by himself because of how round he was. Dad did not care and thought it was a good thing as it showed he could provide well for his son. The kid had to sit on a chair during assembly because he could not get off the ground without help (something the whole school saw at the end of his first assembly). It was tragic and I hope the kid got the help he needed eventually, otherwise he will also end up at risk of premature death like this poor girl was.
[removed]
I hadn’t realised parents could be prosecuted for obesity related deaths of children, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but find it surprising.
If a child’s parents had starved her to death it would attract no controversy at all that they should be charged for it. Feeding a child to death is just as neglectful.
Thankfully that poor child will at least have justuce. I deeply wish the US would prosecute this awful child neglect leading to morbid obesity in children. It’s a massive epidemic here, & nobody seems to give a fuck that these kids are never going to be able to live a normal healthy life.
They are forced through neglect to develop in these hulking frames, and it makes it damned bear impossible for them to try & become healthy once they achieve adult independence.
If we held the adults responsible when a child dies of obesity complications, there would be hope of a swift turnaround for this abuse.
Lifelong eating habits begin when we’re toddlers and children. Parents are directly responsible for establishing the fundamentals for their children.
[deleted]
No doubt the mother is culpable, but what about the food companies and supermarkets who make billions in profits from selling cheap junk food which is packed full of sugar, fat, and salt? Will they be held accountable?
There is no excuse for being fat especially obese, and to do that to your child is just as neglectful as starving them to death.
I have issues with lots of things about this case, rewarding people for pleading guilty feels like anti-justice to me, especially in this case where the mother will feel responsible whether she is or not.
Morbid obesity is caused by either epigenetic settings, or psychological problems. Point is i don’t think this will be some horror case of force feeding, she will have been seeking food and acting hungry. If the parents crime is keeping the kitchen stocked, that doesn’t seem fair.
On the other hand if i had a dog that was morbidly obese, i would be to blame 100%. Kids aren’t pets, but they are not adults with full autonomy either, its a difficult case.
One big question is; Where the hell were social services? Presumably she went to school, teachers, guidance counselors, they should all share some blame for this. Our social services failed this girl and none of the articles I’ve read even mention this.
I cried at hearing this story. It was in the middle of covid, and I don’t know all the details, but it breaks my heart to see a child die so miserably.
Desperately sad story but there’s a little more to the tale than simply labelling it as child abuse.
This was a woman caring for a child with fairly marked disabilities and given the state of things I would imagine a fairly minimal level of support from professionals that might be able to drag them off the path they were on.
Hell, it’s nigh impossible to get psych support for suicidal patients, never mind problematic eating habits.
Am I the only one who thinks this is super problematic? Is there anyway to prove that she wouldn’t have died if the parents restricted her eating? We actually know very little about obesity.
For example, my family is naturally thin. I could eat junk food all day and still be thin.
How do you know she wasn’t predisposed to be obese?
And the article says the girl had other health issues like spina bifida and water in her brain. These seem like birth defects to me. Not sure how they could have been caused by obesity.
I think there is absolutely no way to prove the mother caused the death.
They never even explicitly say but what did the mother do to cause the death? Feed her too much?
And they mention she didn’t exercise but she was in a wheelchair and also there isn’t a ton of evidence that exercise makes you thinner so I’m not sure why this would even be related to the obesity claim.