Shouldn't this be considered child abuse?

[SkylarHunter]

I'm not sure if you've all seen it but it was on the news this week that a 3 y.o. was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, one of the youngest ever.

The little girl weighted 77 pounds!!!

Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes, is normally related to life style. This is a quote from her doctor : “Most of her family dinners were food from outside restaurants and not cooked at home, she didn’t have enough vegetables and fruit, and she was eating candy all the time".

A toddler eats whatever the parents give him/her. A little child has no notion and no control over a diet, or a concept of diet and risks of bad habits. But that little child will pay for that poor diet with all kinds of health problems.

Apparently this toddler lost weight and is now well but this should be seen as a wake up call and I honestly think that these cases should be considered child abuse. These parents are putting their children in danger and they should face consequences just like any parent who beats a child.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

The diet of a child is the responsibility of the parent.
A bad diet could certainly be abuse, but is more likely to be a result of family circumstances or ignorance, rather than in any way intentional.

 

[Laika]

I'm honestly not sure what side to take on this one. This will be an intresting thread to watch.

 

[fantome profane]

I think it is more like neglect than abuse. I don't see any intent to harm the child, but they were negligent. A child like this is suffering from malnutrition, no different than if they were starving.

 

[Quagmire]

Abuse or neglect, whatever this is I'd call it criminal. I mean literally, in the sense that I think the parent's should be court-mandated to attend parenting classes.

 

[Twilight Hue]

We should do door to door searches of every household by heavily armed police. Drag obese kids out into into the streets, imprison the parents and problem solved. No?

 

[Quagmire]

We should do door to door searches of every household by heavily armed police. Drag obese kids out into into the streets, imprison the parents and problem solved. No?

If a kid came into a doctor's office with assorted broken bones, bruises, etc. the doctor would be obligated to contact CPS in this country if he suspected abuse.

Not seeing this as any different.

 

[Twilight Hue]

If a kid came into a doctor's office with assorted broken bones, bruises, etc. the doctor would be obligated to contact CPS in this country if he suspected abuse.

Not seeing this as any different.

Yep. No doubt. Broken bones and bruises are no different than over indulgent appetites. Boy those parents must really really hate their kids to no end to do something so horrific and sadistic.

 

[Quagmire]

Yep. No doubt. Broken bones and bruises are no different than over indulgent appetites. Boy those parents must really really hate their kids to no end to do something so horrific and sadistic.

Sorry, I keep forgetting that "accountability" is a dirty word to a lot of people.

So basically what you're saying is that if one of your kids was diagnosed with diabetes, you'd shrug it off, say, "Heck, what's a little self-indulgence", and take your kid to the Dairy queen on the way home from the doctor's office.

Oh well, not so great for the kid, but at least you'd be giving Darwinism a helping hand.

 

[psychoslice]

There are many people who just should never have children.

 

[Nietzsche]

These parents are putting their children in danger and they should face consequences just like any parent who beats a child.

...

I think you should start writing up a very, very long apology to the countless children who've been beaten with straps & belts, or their bones broken by an alcoholic father, so and so, because **** you, seriously. These are not remotely comparable. Are they strapping this kid down and forcing the food down her throat? No? I'd agree with you, this is a form of abuse. But it's abuse brought on not because they're disgusting trash in a vaguely human shape, but because they love their child and don't realize they're killing them by giving them everything they ask for.

You're making me agree with Nowhere Man.

I can never forgive you for this.

We should do door to door searches of every household by heavily armed police. Drag obese kids out into into the streets, imprison the parents and problem solved. No?

Yep. No doubt. Broken bones and bruises are no different than over indulgent appetites. Boy those parents must really really hate their kids to no end to do something so horrific and sadistic.

Truly, there is no difference between taking off your belt and beating your child half to death and giving them too much cake. Does their depravity know no bounds!?

 

[Nietzsche]

Sorry, I keep forgetting that "accountability" is a dirty word to a lot of people.

So basically what you're saying is that if one of your kids was diagnosed with diabetes, you'd shrug it off, say, "Heck, what's a little self-indulgence", and take your kid to the Dairy queen on the way home from the doctor's office.

Oh well, not so great for the kid, but at least you'd be giving Darwinism a helping hand.

You know damn good & well that isn't what he's saying. There is a big ****ing difference between catering to every request of your child and beating them.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

A bad diet could certainly be abuse, but is more likely to be a result of family circumstances or ignorance, rather than in any way intentional.

While that's true, at the same time, a three-year-old should not be 77 pounds, and most meals obviously should not be take-out, and eating candy all the time is obviously bad. I find it very difficult to believe anyone would be unaware of the detrimental effects of such a diet.

Yep. No doubt. Broken bones and bruises are no different than over indulgent appetites. Boy those parents must really really hate their kids to no end to do something so horrific and sadistic.

A 77 pound three-year-old is very much a sign the parents are not properly taking care of the child. It make not break bones, but it will cause damage to numerous organs, especially the heart, and joint and cartilage damage is a given.

they love their child and don't realize they're killing them by giving them everything they ask for.

That's no excuse. There is no way that they don't know that feeding your kids candy all the time is bad, and that being 77 pounds at three-years-old is not, at all, normal or healthy.

You know damn good & well that isn't what he's saying. There is a big ****ing difference between catering to every request of your child and beating them.

They are both destructive actions taken against children, and both lead to damaged and broken bodies. It may not be abuse in the sense of a drunken dad beating his kids senseless, but it is nevertheless ruining their health, decreasing their quality of life, and giving them a slow death by junk food.

 

[Quagmire]

You know damn good & well that isn't what he's saying. There is a big ****ing difference between catering to every request of your child and beating them.

Hey that's right: after being treated once, bruises and broken bones heal on their own. Type 2 diabetes requires constant medical care for years, often for life.

There is a big ****ing difference between catering to every request of your child and beating them.

Only in that the victims tend to grow up screwed up in different ways.

I've known people who grew up under either condition, and I'll tell you what: I'd much rather hang out with the kid who grew up being whacked with a belt from time to time than the one who always got everything they demanded.

That first guy is much less likely to spend his life acting like the world and everybody around him owes him something.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Sorry, I keep forgetting that "accountability" is a dirty word to a lot of people.

So basically what you're saying is that if one of your kids was diagnosed with diabetes, you'd shrug it off, say, "Heck, what's a little self-indulgence", and take your kid to the Dairy queen on the way home from the doctor's office.

Oh well, not so great for the kid, but at least you'd be giving Darwinism a helping hand.

Still going with the unloving and uncaring parent angle? Even after the diagnosis?

Is that's what's really going on with all parents with their obese at risk and post diagnosed children?

 

[Quagmire]

Still going with the unloving and uncaring parent angle? Even after the diagnosis?

Is that's what's really going on with all parents with their obese at risk and post diagnosed children?

OK, look: if you want to respond to something I actually said, without the histrionics, maybe I'll reply to it.

I'm curious to see what your point actually is without all the artificial fluff.

 

[Deidre]

If the parents eat poorly and don't know any better..........

I can see where it could be construed as abuse, though.

 

[Quagmire]

...
But it's abuse brought on not because they're disgusting trash in a vaguely human shape, but because they love their child and don't realize they're killing them by giving them everything they ask for.

Bull. Much more likely they just got into the habit of shoving something in the kids mouth so they wouldn't have to listen to her whine. Or so the kid would be contented and preoccupied and out of the parent's hair as much as possible. Or because the parents never grew up themselves and now they're just doing what any undisciplined kids would do if they suddenly found themselves in charge: indulging any little whim and impulse that happens to come along anytime it happens to come along and dragging their kids into all of it with them.

In this day and age with as much media exposure as health issues get --- and diet especially --- you can't even realistically claim ignorance as an excuse.

I would guess that in an overwhelming number of cases, parents who neglect their children like this aren't doing it out of love, they're doing it out of laziness.

 

[Quagmire]

If the parents eat poorly and don't know any better..........

I can see where it could be construed as abuse, though.

I don't understand how anyone could not know any better these days.

 

[Deidre]

I don't understand how anyone could not know any better these days.

I know.