Mrs M
yoda76OBESE 8 YEAR OLD - WHO'S TO BLAME?
February 28th 2007 03:39
No doubt by now you have all heard about the 8 year old boy in Britain who is so grossly overweight, the British authorities are stepping in to save the boy’s life. Authorities have told the boy’s mother that if she does not begin to get his weight under control, he will be removed from his home and placed in care.
Here is the link to The Sydney Morning Herald story
The mother has been painted as the “bad guy” in this scenario, and yes she does need to take responsibility for her actions. However, we all know that kids are influenced by peers, advertising and schools to name a few.
I watched with amazement Jamie Oliver’s television series focusing on the school dinners served in British schools. The selection of food was appalling – it was no better than a fast food outlet.
Should schools shoulder some blame for this boy’s weight problem?
What about these health officials that have come in now to help “fix” the problem? Why now? Why wait until the situation is dire?
I don’t know the boy’s history, but from what I have read, he has always had a terrible diet, so it would safe to assume that he has always been overweight. Why didn’t teachers or health officials become instantly concerned when this boy started school? Why wait so long? That’s three years of possible irreparable damage to the boy’s health. Don’t they have a duty of care?
I think there are more people to “blame” for this poor boy’s weight issue than just his mother..
Here is the link to The Sydney Morning Herald story
The mother has been painted as the “bad guy” in this scenario, and yes she does need to take responsibility for her actions. However, we all know that kids are influenced by peers, advertising and schools to name a few.
I watched with amazement Jamie Oliver’s television series focusing on the school dinners served in British schools. The selection of food was appalling – it was no better than a fast food outlet.
Should schools shoulder some blame for this boy’s weight problem?
What about these health officials that have come in now to help “fix” the problem? Why now? Why wait until the situation is dire?
I don’t know the boy’s history, but from what I have read, he has always had a terrible diet, so it would safe to assume that he has always been overweight. Why didn’t teachers or health officials become instantly concerned when this boy started school? Why wait so long? That’s three years of possible irreparable damage to the boy’s health. Don’t they have a duty of care?
I think there are more people to “blame” for this poor boy’s weight issue than just his mother..
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Comment by Damo
But this is one of the few occasions that I cannot agree.
Who buys the food? Mum buys the food.
Who says yes to junior at home? Mum says yes.
If the boy has a medical problem that causes the obesity I would agree. However I list of what the boy eats per day was read out on the radio this morning.
He eats more than my whole family. At 83 kilos he runs the risk of being dead before long. I am getting the impression that there must have been a long series of event that led up to this crisis.
Put a lock on the fridge; cut off his allowance and get rid of all the junk food in the house. Then he may just escape type 2 diabeties, heart problems and cancer. Right now he is in the extreme risk group for all three.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I agree that the mother needs to shoulder most of the responsibility. She's the one that needed to introduce good eating habits from day 1 then the poor kid may have stood a chance.
But for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week he's in school. Now I don't know if it is a media beat up but it strikes me that not very many schools in Britain stock healthy food.
And you are absolutely right about how dire the situation is but I still think that warning signs would have been evident a long time ago - authorities play the holier than thou card when I think they should have spotted this a long time ago.
I'm glad the authorities have stepped in. I just think it should have been done sooner so less drastic actions would have to be taken.
Can you imagine how an 8 year old would feel being told that he's too fat, his mum is to blame and as a consequence he might be taken away. How earth shattering is that?
If the majority of the culture are junk food nutters then the mum is going to have an uphill battle - but no, under no circumstance should she baulk at her responsibility to look after her child just because it gets a bit difficult.
Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by katyzzz
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Just an update, the child has lost about 10kg and authorities have decided he may stay with his mother, which I think is a good thing.
It seems a lot of people are willing to help and living with one's own mother is usually better than alternatives, let's hope he continues to lose and thrive.
It's all very sad and chaotic, it should never have happened, no-one was fat in the German prison camps.
So much affluence to-day and it all went on food. My parents could never have afforded so much so that's one problem affluence brings.
katyzzz
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I did hear that the boy is going to stay with his mother. And I agree, I think it's for the best.
I'm not so sure affluence is to blame but lack of information. I don't know. I find it difficult to believe that a mother would deliberately jeopardise their child's health.
The mother was quoted as saying she wasn't going to let her boy starve. But there is a difference between starving a child, insisting they eat healthy foods and giving them junk constantly.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Candice
I don't agree that the child should be taken away from his mother. This is the problem with the authorities in many cases - the child is punished further for what was done to him/her. In my opinion it's punishing the victim rather than the perpetrator. And what will it achieve except making the child feel unhappy and abandoned?
I also get your point on the school canteens in the UK. I saw a doco on it once and was absolutely appalled at what they serve up. I know in this case the mother was also to blame but how can children receive a healthy diet with junk food being served up for lunch every day?
Comment by Luke (from work computer)
Comment by Lilla
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Enviro Warrior
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Esoteric Bookshop
I'm sorry to disagree, but in my opinion the mother is 100% responsible (the father too, if there is one), that may be half of the problem?
I think that the son needs to be taken away and re-educated ..yes, but the mother needs to be re-educated too.
What is it with women today?
Why don't mother's teach their daughters, and grandmothers their grand-daughters... not any more, God forbid. It's all about malls now, isn't it... sorry Mrs M, not venting on you, but you've hit on one of my pet peeves by saying that the mother may not be to blame. .. who else is? His teachers? His uncle perhaps?
Society today... pah!
going now as I am too mad to be rational...will come back with a semblence of sense, later.
Lilla ...
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Absolute agree with this.
Hi Luke,
I'm not quite sure sure what you mean by this.
Hi Lilla,
It's an interesting point you make about the father. The mother is a single parent and copping all the blame. The father's not around and I haven't heard one iota about him or his share of the blame. Is he not responsible for this son?
Thanks everyone for your visit and comments.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
There's a boy across the road from us in year 4 who constantly is out the front in his satin boxers and no shirt who has a gut so large that you can actually see the crevice (for want of a better word) that runs from under the gat and hangs down. (Am I making any sense?)
Let me put it this way - he has 'handles I don't think anyone could get manage to grab.
His parents don't look after him - he does what he likes - all the time, and of course eats lots of lollies and junk. If he can't get it at home, he'll go looking for it somewhere else.
He also doesn't care that he looks like that which I find quite strange.
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
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Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
..back now and rational, sorry I had to go and look after my children *lol*
Poor kid, really it makes me cry, (when I'm not mad)... but seriously, I look at the mothers (and fathers) of these abused and neglected kids, on current affairs shows and have to turn them off... the parents don't seem to have a single value between them... put together.
I see no morals,
no rules,
no values,
no beliefs...
no sense...
no self discipline,
nothing ...
...products of a Macdonalds age?
Yes, maybe it has gone too far and the parents need education classes to get their dole money. No education, no dole, no welfare, no didley.
If only doctors would hand out diet sheets instead of drug prescriptions for every sniffle ...
If only mother's had time to teach diet to their children and not be so busy, loading their time saving devices, to get to their TV's, to watch the midday soapie ...
If only marraige meant something, before people said 'I do...'
You see where I'm coming from, with this? To me it's the sickness of a consumer-driven, oil-rich, greedy, slothful society - like Anorexia, but the opposite... now where's Dusk when you need her for a word-play?
I think parents need the risk of loosing their children, to sharpen them up in this field a bit and I support it when it comes to saving young lives. .. but am holding my breath to see whether the powers that be, are awake enough to re-educate the parents, as well as the children.
Really great post, btw...
Lilla ...
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Well that just is appalling behaviour. It's interesting that you say that he'll find it somewhere else. Mr M asked the very same thing "how resourceful could a 9 year old be?" It's an interesting question.
Hi Lilla,
Have a pina colada - calm the nerves.
I absolutely understand where you are coming from and agree with you. Definitely re-educate parents.
Yes, people should take more responsibility, I take my job as parent very seriously, it consumes my every waking thought.
I'm just irked by the fact that people turn a blind eye until the final critical moment and then step in. If you are apart of a community, offer support all the time.
Yes, the kid needs some serious attention, but I'm sure this 8 year old boy doesn't need global attention.
I just think that everyone is part of this problem.
The government runs the schools that serve crappy food for lunch and then the same government turns around and tell this mum off for feeding crap food to her child. I understand that it's different departments but still the same government. I just think that is hypocritical.
Thanks for your comments ladies. Very much appreciated.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Damo
Where they pump fat in.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I am back because I had another thought, whilst I was washing the vegetables and chopping them for the steamer, just now. ...
Yes, absolutely, I couldn't agree more... and we must have had the same thought, because mine centred around the media and other culprits too...
What if these typ4es of abuse were always prevalent around the globe, here and there, but in years gone by, we just never heard about them because there was no TV?
They'd waft in on the breeze, wouldn't they, from the ships in the harbour and the trraders from the exotic lands... tales of exotic obesity, of a child that was soooo fat, that poeple thought he was an alien... (it's kind of romantic to me)...
but not today, it's media, paparazzi and God knows... sensationalism that does nothing but whip the senses into fury... no wonder I need my pina colada, or wine (well it's wine tonight)...woo hoo it was majito's last week...*giggle* but that's another story...
love you and leave you, the timer on the garlic bread is about to go ...ding and my wine glass is empty...
*hugs" to you and your little midgets..
Lilla ...
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Love & stuff
Mrs M