Should Parents be Punished for Raising Obese Children?

During colonial times in New England, parents would be publicly humiliated by placing their heads and arms in stocks in the town square if their children were unable to read the King James Bible (considered a 12th grade reading level) by a specific age (10-12 years old, I believe).  As a result, the literacy rate was approximately 99%.

Should parents be punished for allowing their children to become obese?  Technically, they aren't adults until the age of 18, so should their parents be held responsible for their poor health.

Obviously, genetic factors and conditions can affect this.  Similarly, children with handicaps weren't subject to the same reading requirements during the colonial times either.

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

except for some occational candy they buy with thier own money...my kids eat what I provide for them...and are as active as I make them be...

I do think it would be my fault if my kids were not healthy due to diet

i absolutely do think that parents are at fault for their children's obesity in the majority of cases. i mean, if you are the provider of the food, you control what your kid eats. i don't know if punishment is a possibility though, because there are always going to be those cases where some factor other than what the parents make for dinner are causing the obesity. there'd be no way to draw the line.

Original Post by kae03:

except for some occational candy they buy with thier own money...my kids eat what I provide for them...and are as active as I make them be...

I do think it would be my fault if my kids were not healthy due to diet

If you knew you were responsible for their health and punishable for allowing them to have poor health, wouldn't it push you to actively teach them healthy eating habits too and enforce it.

Original Post by jules817:

i absolutely do think that parents are at fault for their children's obesity in the majority of cases. i mean, if you are the provider of the food, you control what your kid eats. i don't know if punishment is a possibility though, because there are always going to be those cases where some factor other than what the parents make for dinner are causing the obesity. there'd be no way to draw the line.

Studies have shown the most effective punishment is humiliation.  Shunning is the most common form of this.  I don't think prison-time would be an appropriate punishment for these parents... nor would stripping their parental rights and taking the children away.  Maybe something like they do with child predators where they put them in a newsletter that gets sent to everyone in the community.

Original Post by trhawley:

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

why not both?

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by jules817:

i absolutely do think that parents are at fault for their children's obesity in the majority of cases. i mean, if you are the provider of the food, you control what your kid eats. i don't know if punishment is a possibility though, because there are always going to be those cases where some factor other than what the parents make for dinner are causing the obesity. there'd be no way to draw the line.

Studies have shown the most effective punishment is humiliation.  Shunning is the most common form of this.  I don't think prison-time would be an appropriate punishment for these parents... nor would stripping their parental rights and taking the children away.  Maybe something like they do with child predators where they put them in a newsletter that gets sent to everyone in the community.

 Seriously? Humiliate the children as well as the parents?

Naw - I take it back - you can't be serious.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by trhawley:

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

why not both?

Who wants to bet the recently laid off unemployed parents are not spending their newly acquired free time home-schooling their children and helping them with schoolwork but instead watching tv.

Original Post by kathygator:

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by jules817:

i absolutely do think that parents are at fault for their children's obesity in the majority of cases. i mean, if you are the provider of the food, you control what your kid eats. i don't know if punishment is a possibility though, because there are always going to be those cases where some factor other than what the parents make for dinner are causing the obesity. there'd be no way to draw the line.

Studies have shown the most effective punishment is humiliation.  Shunning is the most common form of this.  I don't think prison-time would be an appropriate punishment for these parents... nor would stripping their parental rights and taking the children away.  Maybe something like they do with child predators where they put them in a newsletter that gets sent to everyone in the community.

 Seriously? Humiliate the children as well as the parents?

Naw - I take it back - you can't be serious.

I never said humiliate the children... although it may be a side effect.

It was just a thought too... an idea I rapidly brainstormed... I'm not about to write up a Bill and present it to my local Representative.

and in answer to the OP: Yes. As long as you also punish parents for children becoming anorexic.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by trhawley:

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

why not both?

 Multi-tasking is not my thing.

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Who wants to bet the recently laid off unemployed parents are not spending their newly acquired free time home-schooling their children and helping them with schoolwork but instead watching tv.

oh, come on.  because all newly-unemployed parents are lazy-ass bums who don't value education and don't care about their kids' futures?

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by trhawley:

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

why not both?

Who wants to bet the recently laid off unemployed parents are not spending their newly acquired free time home-schooling their children and helping them with schoolwork but instead watching tv.

 WTF? Did you decide to just let every baseless stereotype out of the box this morning?

Original Post by kathygator:

and in answer to the OP: Yes. As long as you also punish parents for children becoming anorexic.

Now that would be much more difficult.

Original Post by kathygator:

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by trhawley:

To heck with obesity, I say we go back to holding parents responsible for literacy. 

why not both?

Who wants to bet the recently laid off unemployed parents are not spending their newly acquired free time home-schooling their children and helping them with schoolwork but instead watching tv.

 WTF? Did you decide to just let every baseless stereotype out of the box this morning?

I'm not stereotyping the people who've been laid off.  I'm stereotyping humans in general.

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by kathygator:

and in answer to the OP: Yes. As long as you also punish parents for children becoming anorexic.

Now that would be much more difficult.

 Why?  You are going to use BMI right?  Over or under should get the same punishment, under is worse in my opinion.

Original Post by trhawley:

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by kathygator:

and in answer to the OP: Yes. As long as you also punish parents for children becoming anorexic.

Now that would be much more difficult.

 Why?  You are going to use BMI right?  Over or under should get the same punishment, under is worse in my opinion.

a)  It's less frequent.
b)  In most cases it isn't as noticeable.
c)  It is much easier for a parent to restrict food intake than to force intake... or control bulimia.

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by trhawley:

Original Post by yountsmonster:

Original Post by kathygator:

and in answer to the OP: Yes. As long as you also punish parents for children becoming anorexic.

Now that would be much more difficult.

 Why?  You are going to use BMI right?  Over or under should get the same punishment, under is worse in my opinion.

a)  It's less frequent.
b)  In most cases it isn't as noticeable.
c)  It is much easier for a parent to restrict food intake than to force intake... or control bulimia.

1st, you can't use BMI.  lots of people with dire eating disorders have normal BMIs.

otherwise, i agree (edit: with tom) - sort of.  children who develop disordered eating habits usually do so in reaction to some problem, and usually that problem originates in the family (neglect, parental MH, etc). 

the problem, of course, is that punishing the parents isn't likely to solve the problem.

You are not a parent are you.  Restricting food from your child is not an easy task.  And the cause of obesity is not that clear cut.

Younts: I respect your intellect - even if you are a child -  so let's be real for a second.

It's harder than you might think to restrict a kid's intake. You can offer the most nutritious food in the world, inspire an active lifestyle and you still have kids that go through periods in which they carry extra weight. It's not a failing as a parent - it's a part of childhood development. Then you have the very dangerous situation of a kid humiliated by the fact that they are overweight, and the problem is compounded.

Add to that the child's access to friggin Pizza Hut at school and the addition of corn syrup into nearly every foodstuff on the shelves, and you have an even bigger problem.

Childhood obesity is a problem - the solution to which is education not recrimination.

Hear, Hear, Citizen Gator!

Edit:  for the youngsters in the room: "hear, hear!" is an abbreviation for "hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!"