Fines For Fat Kids?

[Inkachu]

Puerto Rico might start fining the parents of obese children - AOL.com

Is this the government overstepping it bounds? Trying to capitalize and make money off pudgy preteens? Will parents start depriving their kids of food out of fear of being punished? Will kids start sneaking or stealing food in rebellion?

IMHO it's none of the government's daggone business if my child is chubby. Heck, "I" was a chubby kid. I was certainly not abused by that fact.

How about reintroducing phys ed into all schools as a mandatory part of the day? I hated phys ed because I was introverted and didn't have many friends, so the team sports and group activities were torture for me. But that could have been easily solved by simply allowing the kids who don't want to do team activites, to spend the class being active on their own; walking, jogging, tumbling, tossing a basketball. Plenty of ways to keep kids moving without forcing them to "play" with others.

 

[keith99]

Am I the only one who sees something wrong here?

According to the Obesity Action Coalition, a child is defined as obese if he or she has a body mass index-for-age in the 95th percentile.
Time reports that 28 percent of children in Puerto Rico are considered obese. That figure is higher than the most recent U.S. numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2012, the CDC estimated that around 18 percent of children ages 6-11 were obese and almost 21 percent of adolescents ages 12-19 were obese.

28%, 18% and 21% are all in the 95th percentile!

I don't know how PE is in schools these days. I was not a fan of regular PE classes and pretty much never had one after the 5th grade. Grades 6-9 I was in a private school and there was interscholastic athletics. I simply played every sport. I was from decent to very good in most. In baseball I was useless, well except for catching in practice. Wear and tear from catching was no big deal. I was a decent competitive swimmer and between swimming and going out for football for 2 years I dodged any regular PE in High School.

Using BMI to determine obesity is stupid.

It seems a BMI or 30 is obese, 35 is level 2 obese and 40 is grossly obese.

J.J. Watt has a BMI of 34.4. He is not only NOT obese he is built like a brick **** house.

 

[Cute Tink]

I agree this is a pretty terrible overreach of government. I think there are a lot of assumptions playing into this and there are better ways to handle this.

I agree with increasing the use of PE in school. Teach kids how to exercise and maybe some lessons on proper nutrition and the dangers of being overweight.

This idea that we can punish people into being healthy just seems like a way to make a little extra money.

 

[Inkachu]

Next thing, the gov't will threaten to take the little chubsters away from their families and re-educate them on little fat kid farms.

 

[Cute Tink]

That's a horrifying thought Ink.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

That's a horrifying thought Ink.

It is horrifying, mainly because it's not out of the realm of possibility.


Let's hope they fine parents with overly thin kids, too.

 

[Cute Tink]

It is horrifying, mainly because it's not out of the realm of possibility.


Let's hope they fine parents with overly thin kids, too.

The problem should be seen as whether kids are healthy, rather than whether they are merely heavy or thin. I was rather thin in my teens, despite efforts to gain weight. Between activity and a high metabolism there was only so much I could do.

The opposite was true for some kids I knew. Some ate far healthier than I did and could not seem to lose weight.

If, for some reason, a child is being starved by their parents, that's a different story entirely. The same if a child is being force fed dramatically unhealthy food. However, simply because a child is overweight or underweight does not mean the child is being abused, which is often ignored with blanket policies.

 

[dogs4thewin]

It is horrifying, mainly because it's not out of the realm of possibility.


Let's hope they fine parents with overly thin kids, too.

no let's hope that ( depending on the situation they either remove the kids or offer/mandate the kids get help.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

The problem should be seen as whether kids are healthy, rather than whether they are merely heavy or thin. I was rather thin in my teens, despite efforts to gain weight. Between activity and a high metabolism there was only so much I could do.

The opposite was true for some kids I knew. Some ate far healthier than I did and could not seem to lose weight.

If, for some reason, a child is being starved by their parents, that's a different story entirely. The same if a child is being force fed dramatically unhealthy food. However, simply because a child is overweight or underweight does not mean the child is being abused, which is often ignored with blanket policies.

Well, yes, that was kinda my point.

The idea that a kid who is slightly overweight (or even just plain overweight) is automatically unhealthy is as ridiculous as the idea that a skinny kid is healthy.

no let's hope that ( depending on the situation they either remove the kids or offer/mandate the kids get help.

That was a rather tongue-in-cheek comment. I don't support any sort of governmental fines on what they deem as bad parenting.

 

[Cute Tink]

Well, yes, that was kinda my point.

The idea that a kid who is slightly overweight (or even just plain overweight) is automatically unhealthy is as ridiculous as the idea that a skinny kid is healthy.

Indeed. I was just piling on to your point there. I think we largely agree on this subject.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Indeed. I was just piling on to your point there. I think we largely agree on this subject.

I agree that we agree.

 

[ulu]

Puerto Rico might start fining the parents of obese children - AOL.com

Terrible idea for many reasons.
Also, the last thing overweight kids need is another reason to be self conscious.
I agree, more phys ed and educating about nutrition etc is a far better alternative.

 

[TerranceL]

Wow what a bad idea, the answer is to educate both the children and the parents on good eating.

 

[keith99]

It is horrifying, mainly because it's not out of the realm of possibility.


Let's hope they fine parents with overly thin kids, too.

Oh great, they'd have shipped me and perhaps my sister off to the fat farm and my 2 females off to the beanpole prison.

I'd have had to depend on little brother and my male cousin to break us out.

Or have organized with little sister. She could have lead fat cavalry and I could have organized fat seal team one!

Hmm come to think of it my one of my second cousins was also a bit chunky and could hit a target at 1000 yards.

I smell revolution.

 

[SuperCloud]

Health problems related to obesity is an economic drain on the government.

I heard one American doctor on TV state that if public tax dollars had pay for all (not some as it does apparently) the medical problems related to obesity in the USA that it would literally bankrupt the entire U.S. Government.

So, the scale of obesity problem in the USA is a bigger drain on the U.S. economy--it would seem judging by that doctors comments I mentioned in my second paragraph--than tax dollars paying for welfare for single parents, or tax dollars paying for drug addicts in rehabs.

Everyone is addicted to something. That could be rage or jogging. Overeating can become an addiction too. For someone like me with a very high metabolism that usually won't cause obesity. But for people with very slow metabolism it usually will.

I'm not sure punishing parents while depriving them of options--as the state empowers fast food restaurants and other for profit industries partly responsible for the growing obesity problems--is just.

Governments should come up with other creative solutions. Preferably.