Should parents with obese children face child abuse charges?

14dMoney

Ireland is now one of the fattest country in Europe, and Irish children are getting fatter every year. Should the parents of fat children be held responsible for the damage that they're doing to their childrens bodies?

suicide_circus

i blame the government

Cina

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

As with most issues on Ireland, it's a systematic issue that needs to be dealt with from the top down instead of simply blaming the parents themselves.

mad muffin

It’s going to be fine… Varadkar introduced a sugar tax.

GreeBo

Cina wrote: »

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

Or they could just cook at home for cheaper again?

14dMoney

Cina wrote: »

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

As with most issues on Ireland, it's a systematic issue that needs to be dealt with from the top down instead of simply blaming the parents themselves.

That's not true, there are plenty of healthy places to eat out. That failing, make sandwiches, buy an apple or a bag of peanuts. It's simply laziness.

is_that_so

14dMoney wrote: »

Ireland is now the fattest country in Europe, and Irish children are getting fatter every year. Should the parents of fat children be held responsible for the damage that they're doing to their childrens bodies?

So giving a probably loving parent a criminal record is the best way to help their child? You've been watching way too much dystopia crap on Netflix!
Education, support and activity via schools is the way to go.

is_that_so

14dMoney wrote: »

That's not true, there are plenty of healthy places to eat out. That failing, make sandwiches, buy an apple or a bag of peanuts. It's simply laziness.

Do you have a child?

corner of hells

14dMoney wrote: »

Ireland is now the fattest country in Europe, and Irish children are getting fatter every year. Should the parents of fat children be held responsible for the damage that they're doing to their childrens bodies?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/96429/ten-fattest-countries-in-europe%3Famp&ved=2ahUKEwj99MemrJPjAhXPX8AKHQPBDcQQFjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw0AueBBKoY6iyubwM6aOXrw&ampcf=1

Have a read OP.

14dMoney

is_that_so wrote: »

So giving a probably loving parent a criminal record is the best way to help their child? You've been watching way too much dystopia crap on Netflix!
Education, support and activity via schools is the way to go.

A loving parent who is feeding their kid to an early grave.

14dMoney

is_that_so wrote: »

Do you have a child?

Yes and they eat healthy food and are not overweight. But myself and my wife work full-time but can still manage to find the time to cook a healthy meal.

antix80

Parent's are responsible.
There's a difference between neglect and abuse. Both can be harmful to a child and in some situations it's necessary to involve social services, remove the child from the parents, prosecute the parents, etc.
Typically the government funds education/awareness campaigns and of course there's the sugar tax.

One eyed Jack

14dMoney wrote: »

Ireland is now one of the fattest country in Europe, and Irish children are getting fatter every year. Should the parents of fat children be held responsible for the damage that they're doing to their childrens bodies?

I don’t understand the question. Parents of fat children are held responsible for the damage they’re doing to their children’s bodies. Parents of malnourished children are held responsible for the damage they’re doing to their children’s bodies too. We have laws regarding neglect and so on already!

average_runner

Cina wrote: »

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

As with most issues on Ireland, it's a systematic issue that needs to be dealt with from the top down instead of simply blaming the parents themselves.

What you spend in McDonald's on one child you could cook a healthy dinner for a family.

suicide_circus

is_that_so wrote: »

Education

No.

I've received a decent education. my paunch is a result of me being irresponsible and lazy enough to knowingly consume more calories than i burn.

Lady Haywire

I was an obese child, but it's because I was using my pocket money to buy crisps/chocolate every chance I got. My parents fed me the exact same as my brother (skinny fella) but what good was that when I was secretly eating god knows how many calories in junk food at school.

As I got older I became more educated in nutrition & I dieted, lost 6 stone & now I'm a normal weight as an adult. Don't always blame the parents for these things, sometimes it's the kid being a little prat too.

branie2

They should try healthy food

is_that_so

14dMoney wrote: »

Yes and they eat healthy food and are not overweight. But myself and my wife work full-time but can still manage to find the time to cook a healthy meal.

And that is because you've been educated to do so! Not everyone is and finding way to persuade someone not to send the kids to the chipper for their tea is an ongoing challenge.

Cina

average_runner wrote: »

What you spend in McDonald's on one child you could cook a healthy dinner for a family.

That's why I said "on a Sunday". It's just one example.

Maybe these parents need to be taught these things?

is_that_so

14dMoney wrote: »

A loving parent who is feeding their kid to an early grave.

That's statistics, largely unprovable in individual cases and not exactly helpful in persuading people to change.

InTheShadows

14dMoney wrote: »

That's not true, there are plenty of healthy places to eat out. That failing, make sandwiches, buy an apple or a bag of peanuts. It's simply laziness.

Not everyone makes a fecking picnic before they go out and yes there are plenty of healthy places but in lots of those places they'll charge you 10 euro for a hipster sandwich and water from some immaculate waterfall in Japan. You can buy a burger for a euro in McDonald's.

is_that_so

InTheShadows wrote: »

Not everyone makes a fecking picnic before they go out and yes there are plenty of healthy places but in lots of those places they'll charge you 10 euro for a hipster sandwich and water from some immaculate waterfall in Japan. You can buy a burger for a euro in McDonald's.

It's not the burger in McDonalds that does for you, it's the excessive frequency of doing so and a lack of activity to burn it off.

LorelaiG

is_that_so wrote: »

Do you have a child?

I've 4. None of them are overweight. They don't want for treats. There's a healthy balance between eating healthy, enough exercise and the occasional treat so that they're not deprived of 'junk food'.

Former Observer

Tax the children. Inform them that their weight is being tracked and they will be expected to pay back into a government fund through taxes when they turn eighteen. Make sure they have access to literature explaining how it all works. I reckon most of them will drop weight very quickly. Kids understand money better than anything else.

InTheShadows

Former Observer wrote: »

Tax the children. Inform them that their weight is being tracked and they will be expected to pay back into a government fund through taxes when they turn eighteen. Make sure they have access to literature explaining how it all works. I reckon most of them will drop weight very quickly. Kids understand money better than anything else.

And bring in a review board to oversee it so some FG lackie who can't hack it in the private sector can get a 70k a year wage and great pension.

theteal

Not sure how to tackle it. Parents are definitely responsible but I'm seeing parents who aren't exactly the healthiest either - is it an education thing or just plain laziness?


Side note, myself and the little one swimming yesterday morning (as we do most Sundays). Not really something I've ever noticed before but the were a disturbing amount of pre-teen flabby man tits wobbling about. I felt bad for the kids. This is a small Essex town/village, so it's not just an Irish thing.

odyssey06

No, and this is yet another crazy unworkable borderline offensive idea from the same poster.

How about paying teachers who run after school sports teams?
Setting aside funding so that schools retain their sports pitches?

martingriff

is_that_so wrote: »

And that is because you've been educated to do so! Not everyone is and finding way to persuade someone not to send the kids to the chipper for their tea is an ongoing challenge.

People need to be educated for common sense now my god really

is_that_so

martingriff wrote: »

People need to be educated for common sense now my god really

Yes , that's what it's like in the real world! They don't sell common sense like they used to.

14dMoney

InTheShadows wrote: »

Not everyone makes a fecking picnic before they go out and yes there are plenty of healthy places but in lots of those places they'll charge you 10 euro for a hipster sandwich and water from some immaculate waterfall in Japan. You can buy a burger for a euro in McDonald's.

Go to ALDI and you can get a tuna and sweetcorn salad for 2 euro. McDonald's big Mac meal costs 8 quid, and for that price you could get a healthy meal to go from chopped or another one of those places.

14dMoney

odyssey06 wrote: »

No, and this is yet another crazy unworkable borderline offensive idea from the same poster.

How about paying teachers who run after school sports teams?
Setting aside funding so that schools retain their sports pitches?

Offensive? Cop on, children need to lose weight fast and your worried about hurt feelings?

martingriff

is_that_so wrote: »

Yes , that's what it's like in the real world! They don't sell common sense like they used to.

Its sounding like it more and more. I had a conversation once with people about politics where i said you should read as much as possible as not everyone will give the whole truth and make the best informed decision and the reply was how do you do this it is not thought we should be shown. I was going WTF do people not know how to think for themselves anymore

14dMoney

is_that_so wrote: »

And that is because you've been educated to do so! Not everyone is and finding way to persuade someone not to send the kids to the chipper for their tea is an ongoing challenge.

Not everyone is educated enough to know that chipper food is bad for them? That's simply not true, unless they've been living under a rock for the past 25 years, have no access to internet TV or radio. If somebody really doesn't know that chipper food is dreadful for your health, social services should take their kids from them, because somebody that dim, shouldn't have custody of a kid.

InTheShadows

14dMoney wrote: »

Go to ALDI and you can get a tuna and sweetcorn salad for 2 euro. McDonald's big Mac meal costs 8 quid, and for that price you could get a healthy meal to go from chopped or another one of those places.

I must have missed those seats, tables and toilets Aldi put in.

InTheShadows

14dMoney wrote: »

Not everyone is educated enough to know that chipper food is bad for them? That's simply not true, unless they've been living under a rock for the past 25 years, have no access to internet TV or radio. If somebody really doesn't know that chipper food is dreadful for your health, social services should take their kids from them, because somebody that dim, shouldn't have custody of a kid.

So now we are regressing to 1950's Ireland where the state remove kids from their parents. Lovely.

14dMoney

InTheShadows wrote: »

I must have missed those seats, tables and toilets Aldi put in.

Go to the park, bring them home, eat while walking. Feeding kids unhealthy food because you can't find anywhere to sit is poor justification.

odyssey06

14dMoney wrote: »

Offensive? Cop on, children need to lose weight fast and your worried about hurt feelings?

Oh please, you are on a multi-thread rampage with these offensive nonsensical impractical proposals.
Not a single positive idea about how to get kids more active, or how to encourage healthier eating.
Always about singling them out for totalitarian monitoring by the state.

These are not the proposals of someone who cares about the kids. This is about singling them out for fat shaming.

InTheShadows

is_that_so wrote: »

It's not the burger in McDonalds that does for you, it's the excessive frequency of doing so and a lack of activity to burn it off.

I agree. I bring my kids once a month and they'd go another time with their friends as a treat. I think McDonald's in fantastic once in moderation just like everything else it's about education.

Outlaw Pete

It's no use blaming your parents, OP, put down the biscuits!

InTheShadows

14dMoney wrote: »

Go to the park, bring them home, eat while walking. Feeding kids unhealthy food because you can't find anywhere to sit is poor justification.

Bring them home when we are out in town :pac: hey kids let's go sit in the park in the pissing rain and eat that lettuce and soy bean sandwich FFS cheer up will you.

14dMoney

odyssey06 wrote: »

Oh please, you are on a multi-thread rampage with these offensive nonsensical impractical proposals.
Not a single positive idea about how to get kids more active, or how to encourage healthier eating.
Always about singling them out for totalitarian monitoring by the state.

These are not the proposals of someone who cares about the kids. This is about singling them out for fat shaming.

Fat shaming isn't a real thing, this isn't an liberal arts campus in America.

Secondly, if you care more about a parent's feelings, than their child dying in their thirties, then you really need to look at your priorities.

_Brian

Cina wrote: »

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

As with most issues on Ireland, it's a systematic issue that needs to be dealt with from the top down instead of simply blaming the parents themselves.

Well they could do like the rest of us and cook a decent healthy meal at home ?

Dakota Dan

Cina wrote: »

It's not just on them. Unfortunately it's much cheaper for these families to take their kids to a Mc Donalds on a Sunday than somewhere that serves healthy food.

As with most issues on Ireland, it's a systematic issue that needs to be dealt with from the top down instead of simply blaming the parents themselves.

You wouldn’t exactly fatten on McDonald’s portions.

odyssey06

14dMoney wrote: »

Fat shaming isn't a real thing, this isn't an liberal arts campus in America.
Secondly, if you care more about a parent's feelings, than their child dying in their thirties, then you really need to look at your priorities.

I notice you conveniently ignored every other point I made and the lack of any positive suggestion to improve outcomes for kids.
So I'll simplify it, you hate fat people, we get it. Just say and stop hiding it with these nonsense threads and pretending to care.

In other threads all you cared about was cost to the health service, or someone taking up two seats in a plane. They will save the state thousands in long term supports, health service costs, pensions etc if they die at 30. And they won't be flying anywhere.
Problem solved for you.

14dMoney

odyssey06 wrote: »

I notice you conveniently ignored every other point I made and the lack of any positive suggestion to improve outcomes for kids.
So I'll simplify it, you hate fat people, we get it. Just say and stop hiding it with these nonsense threads and pretending to care.

In other threads all you cared about was cost to the health service, or someone taking up two seats in a plane. They will save the state thousands in long term supports, health service costs, pensions etc if they die at 30. And they won't be flying anywhere.
Problem solved for you.

Other threads were specific to certain issues caused by obesity, which you don't seem to realise is a huge epidemic. The reason I had multiple threads is because obesity causes a multitude of problems for the individual and for society as a whole. So get off your high horse and open your eyes to the reality of the problem.

LorelaiG

14dMoney wrote: »

Go to ALDI and you can get a tuna and sweetcorn salad for 2 euro. McDonald's big Mac meal costs 8 quid, and for that price you could get a healthy meal to go from chopped or another one of those places.

One of those salads is actually around the same calories and fat intake as a Big Mac and medium fries...

odyssey06

14dMoney wrote: »

Other threads were specific to certain issues caused by obesity, which you don't seem to realise is a huge epidemic. The reason I had multiple threads is because obesity causes a multitude of problems for the individual and for society as a whole. So get off your high horse and open your eyes to the reality of the problem.

There's a huge epidemic of something here relating to a horse alright.

How inefficient having multiple threads for a multitude of problems. It's attitudes like that that sees fat people take up two seats on a plane. I don't know how you tolerate such inefficiency. You should probably have a word with your spambot.

It's obvious your threads have nothing to do with the real issue, or all your 'solutions' wouldn't be so crazily totalitarian, offensive and impracticable - they are just a vent for your fat shaming rampage. You'd do well in North Korea.

14dMoney

LorelaiG wrote: »

One of those salads is actually around the same calories and fat intake as a Big Mac and medium fries...

A medium big Mac meal comes in at around 1100 calories. Chopped salad is in or around 500-600, I think there's an outlier and 800 calories. Stop lying.

Gimme A Pound

Getting McDonalds regularly for your children's dinners is not the result of a systematic issue or lack of education (junior cert education is sufficient and that's mandatory) - it's just laziness. The cost of a McDonalds easily covers a bunch of ingredients in Aldi or Lidl for a home cooked meal.

It does nobody any good to be deflecting responsibility.

I think it's terrible when small children are overweight. It's setting the foundations for their future. It's considered cruel if it's a cat or dog.

odyssey06

14dMoney wrote: »

A medium big Mac meal comes in at around 1100 calories. Chopped salad is in or around 500-600, I think there's an outlier and 800 calories. Stop lying.

A medium big mac and fries is not 1100 calories, which is what the poster said.
Stop lying, you could take your own advice perhaps?

TuringBot47

I think posters should be reprimanded for over-feeding this troll.