What's your take? Mom charged with neglect for overfeeding or poorly feeding her child. Is there a socioeconomic link here that extends beyond just food and choices? Is this a result of poverty? poor education??
Think about it - we've got Kate+8 feeding her gang organic, Gweneth is obsessively cleansing with CLEAN and SPENT (great books by the way! see the link box), and then we've got another segment of the population eating at McDonalds several times a week. What's the scoop? Is it poor education, poor choices, lack of money? And, what is the impact - and how can we make a change?
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6 comments:
Don't get me started!!!!
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that those of us who participate in this blog feed our children properly. Without having all the details of the case we are debating, I can't say whether or not I agree with this charge. I think that if I had to guess there probably is a socioeconomic link, and most definitely poor education. I am assuming that the child in question is overweight at the least, so were there tests run to make sure that there aren't other contributing factors to the child's weight? Kate and Gwyneth have more than enough money to feed their kids organic and probably have it prepared by their in-house personal chefs too. Granted it doesn't happen often, but there are weeks when my children have had fast-food more than once in a week. Does that make me a bad Mom?
Here is my issue, I totally understand charging parents who underfeed their children, but charging them when their children are overfed? What's next, dentists reporting parents whose children have too many cavities? Pediatricians reporting parents because a child has had too many diaper rashes? I hope that law enforcement sees an opportunity to educate this mom and show her the proper way to nourish her child. I certainly can't imagine sentencing this woman to jail time or imposing a fine on her, most likely her finances and/or time are already under enough strain.
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/07/22/2009-07-22_is_obesity_child_abuse_court_to_decide_if_sc_mom_jerri_gray_neglected_555pound_1.html
(Cut and paste the linke above) to get to the story; the issue is growing so there are links w/in the news clip too.
I agree w/ the other post -- educating parents and kids on good eating habits is key; plus, the menu has to be designed to accommodate all income levels (and food stamps) in order to make it work.
Hopefully, I read the right article, a 14 year old that weighed 555 lbs !!!! First of all, that is morbidly obese. My guess is that he is also diabetic and on medication for high cholesterol and/or blood pressure. I'll also make the assumption that the mother is obese. My Bottom line, this does not happen overnight. Education and socioeconomics do play a major role but so does personal choice/resposibility. I know many educated middle and upper middle class people that eat horribly. Do I think she should be charged with neglect???? I need more facts. However, if we look at this in terms of the impact it has on healthcare costs, it can't be ignored.
I agree w/ the last post that this can't be ingnored b/c it ultimately affects our health care system - and will drain our limited resources in terms of health care, disability funds, social security, etc... b/c when people are sick, they can't work and contribute to our world!
I also think we can't ignore the poverty element. Yes, there are people that are not financially restricted and still choose poor eating habits. Unfortunately I don't think we can make this a crime - but we could place high taxes on those types of foods.
The main complaint I have read and heard from people with financial restrictions is that a healthy diet is expensive. And that is true; so I think there has to be something done about the excessive production of poorly made, useless food. Why make cheap stuff that is bad for us -- why clog up our world w/ it? Don't even make it as an option. But also - create healthy food and bombard the media with healthy food options that can be provided on a limited budget. There are many create recipes that are not expensive, but are healthy.
Just ate a Krispy Kreme doughnut today and might have to eat my own words on mass producing useless food!! - Reb
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