Is a parent responsible for their child's body size?

I believe you are responsible for your child's weight up until around 12. As a parent it is your job to be a role model, buy and prepare the food your child eats and to either play with them or put them into activities that can help them get some exercise. When your child is at the age where they are out at friends houses all the time and really think they know what is best it is definately harder to control what they eat. I remember going to my girlfriends house and we would eat crap all day cause it was in her house. A child who is 14 should be able to start asking for help, or doing small changes for himself. I am sure he has heard a few things from his doctors that he could have put into his lifestyle.

One of my nephews weighs >400 lbs. and is a hermit. His parents (especially his mother) have always HATED him and are selfish liars who won't allow him weight loss surgery....although it is doctor approved in his case and they can well afford the cost. He has been obese since (literally) a few days after his birth. His older brother is also overweight and has been since since a few days after his birth. He is not morbidly obese only because his body has 'better' survival instincts than his brother's and he vomits (occasionally) directly on the table when his parents force feed (through manipulation) him grotesque amounts of fatty foods. YES, PARENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OFFSPRING'S OBESITY!

Yes .. completely responsible... I have a 4 year old and If he does not eat well I am completely responsible..I buy his food..cook it.. and serve it...his diet is all my responsibility there for they should be help accountable.

THIS IS WHY JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS. So we could get fat fat fat. No more societal dietary laws. No more farm festivals, feasts and fasts, no purging of the stubborn children -- killed by priests. No religion at all in his long wake. Take him to the kibbutz, he's bored and never felt loved enough and maybe he isn't very smart, so we haven't found him a paying job. If he makes it to 18 he'll get dumped on his head and that fat will come in handy for a mattress and a blanket on the sidewalk. Or not. Or maybe his panic and need to accumulate and carry will see him through anything. I know my childhood obesity has completly wrecked me and the world would be better off without all thease doomed from the start sad sacks of thinly veiled disability and self obsession.

I am so made at you people who judge other people. You are not the ones walking in that womans shoes. Its easier to judge other people then to really try and understand why we have a obesity epidemic. I believe there are other factor involved here of why this boy is overweight. Where is the father and why arent we blaming him. Was the boy bullied at school. There are so many reasons why this boy is overweight and to take his mother away could hurt this child even more. Why not choose to help this mother out and support her to help her son.

Listen people I am the poster child for being overweight in my HS I was one of only three or four that suffered that title. And when I went on a diet and lost all that weight I was the one that had to do it alone, I came from parents that had a garden, froze and canned their produce for the winter months, and I was still a fat kid by the standards for the 70s. I had to do it on my own to loose it. But as an adult i found it all back and then some. I have two kids of my own, so again, its not the parents fault entirely. Maybe she should have not brought home so much fast food, its the killer, people dont realize it now, but its the new enemy. I myself went on an economic diet because i could not afford so much eating out and lost 60 pounds, but during the holidays i found it again! I cooked for everyone and thus ate as well the goodies i made. So again, I dont think she should anymore than my parents could have done anything about my weight. The MORE ONE COMPLAINS about a persons weight, i am living PROOF it gets WORSE by the comments and attention on eating it gets the person that needs to loose the weight. Oh also a ban on ice cream around here helped me loose some weight also. So banning so much in the house can do two things, it can lead to weight loss, but if you have money to go out and get it and you craving it, wham there goes that ideal.

Well maybe if the economy didn't suck then she wouldn't have to work so much. Then she would be able to help her son live a healthier lifestyle. I come from a home where my mother worked alot and until we could cook for our selves we ate alot of junk food and fast food. Life is demanding and if the cost of living wasn't so high with the pay being so low then parents wouldn't be demanded to take on extra hours and 2nd and 3rd jobs to support their families. If our country would commit to its own people instead of building up other countries life in the US would be perfect. Another thing...maybe if healthcare wouldnt be so expensive because you know she probably had a job that didn't offer benifits..then she probably would've taken him to the doctor to get him help.

I don't think the parent in this situation should loose cutody since she was working her butt of to provide a decent living for her child and it should show how much she loves her son if she tried to run away with him. She cares so much for him that she risked all she had to be with him. The neglect is simply sacrifice to get through life. Its bad since it fell upon her son...but she could've been a prostitute on crack and giving him a terrible life...no she was doing the honest thing and is now paying for it. Where is the justice?

I was a fat child (and adult) but don't blame my parents. I grew up in a family of 7 kids. Oldest sister was chubby, but not obese, as a child, as a teenager was 5'7 and weighed 110-lbs, didn't start gaining weight again until she hit her 30's, now is obese. Next in line was brother who was rail-thin his whole life, again until he hit 30's and gained weight, which he has since lost but as weight problems were clearly only an issue in adulthood, not my parents "fault". Next in line was another brother, obese as kid, still obese, but was eating the same meals, had the same parents as two older siblings who were skinny teens. Then comes another brother, rail thin his whole life, as is the next sister. Then there's me, fat kid, fat teen, obese adult. Youngest brother also heavy as a kid, really obese as a teen, mildly overweight as an adult. 7 different kids, 7 different outcomes. Same parents. I know my eating problems started as a child after I was sexually abused by a neighbor, so I used fat as a shield, kept me from being so attractive to men, never told my parents about it, they had no idea why I loved food so much (and I would sneak it any chance I got, it's not like they never tried to get me to lose weight or eat less). All their efforts to monitor my eating just led to me feeling rejected by them and using food to comfort me more, so those hyper-weight sensitive parents may be doing just as wrong by being the food monitors as those who do nothing. Unless you monitor your kids 24/7 and lock up the pantry and fridge at night, you can't keep a kid's weight your idea of "perfect". And even if you do, I have adult siblings who were skinny kids who are now obese adults, so what is the point of making their childhood miserable by being the food police? I think it's more important to make your kids feel secure and loved, and then provide good, healthy food for them, play with them to engage them in physical activities, and then whatever happens, happens. So maybe I'll be one of those "bad" Moms with an overweight kid...

yes!parents are responsible for teaching there children healthy eating habits,i work in a grocery store and i see obese parents filling up there grocery carts with nothing but junk!no fresh vegetables,nothing but fattening food and soda,sorry but parents are the teachers,and teaching your children to eat right is your responsibility,and children cannot buy there own groceries!i have watched the shows on super obese people and they can't get out of bed;who is bringing them the food?

Maybe we should try putting recess back in the school program, before and during school with some free play time after school to run,play and be kids. I hear all this about child obesity rising but my kids are not allowed to play on the playground before school. Since I work full time, they also do not get alot of outside time after school. Not that they would anyway with all the homework that is piled on them because they have one minumum day each week and at lease once a month they have a non-student day. They are not in school as many hours a day as I was.

every parent should know that we all can't keep up the diet of the current first lady and her lobster diet. I am sorry that I can't keep this up to feed my children and their children.

This person is a writer? PEOPLE are responsible for THEIR kids. A PERSON is responsible for HIS OR HER kids. Not only are people in this country too freaking fat (that kid was probably overweight when he was three and had NO control over his food) but illiterate as well.

Mike take hike u idiot! what does that have to do with this ..subject? dumbass

As the phrase goes, you are what you eat. Parents are a 100% responsible for their child's well being.

Why not just throw a bunch of innocent people in jail? That's what you're saying. I mean, if a skinny person is in line to get a pizza that's ok but if a fat person is in line to get a pizza then that's what makes them fat? If that was true then why isn't the skinny person fat? They're at the same pizza place ordering the same food. You can't say that all fat people are lazy, don't excercise, and over eat because you don't know that. That is a stereotype that skinny people make up. Some people are fat from over eating, but not all of them. When you run with your friends, play sports, excel in gym, eat the same school lunch that your peers eat, and still have people mooing behind your back then maybe you'll understand. Maybe some day you'll have a fat child, and then maybe after helping them struggle with diet and excercise they'll come home crying because people threw food at them, and then you'll understand that they don't need to be beautiful to be healthy. As long as you eat well and excersize that's all that matters, not what people look like. Some people are just fat and some are just skinny. I know because I am fat. All my life I've tried to run faster, eat healthier, and outsmart all those skinny kids that thought that they had some right to judge me by my cover. So far I've beaten the diabetes that runs in my family and I'm very happy with that. In the end I'm still just a smart funny fat woman with a loving fiance and a lot of friends. But the world is still making this out to be a popularity contest, when it shouldn't be. These are our bodies and everyone should keep their rights to be who they are.

The child is 555 pounds. I'm 36 years old and recently lost 60 lbs. at 36 I feel like my eating was out of control, and I ate fast food ALOT before losing weight but I was NEVER that big... HOW in the world does this happen? It's heartbreaking, and I feel like something needs to be done, but I'm not sure taking the kid away is going to create a solution. Maybe a temporary fix, but the problem is deeper, I hope this kid lives to tell his story...

sometimes it happens so fast and then,my step daughter started sneaking food and she ate alot of bread.Nicole's mother is bipolar,without meds and could hardly take care of her three children ! I have liver disease & was fatiqued,I was trying to take care of the meals and cleaning,i did notice but felt it was not my place to say anything ,for fear of hurting Nicoles feelings,as I loved the kids as my own and tryed to teach them right from wrong,cuz their Mother was a cheating spouse .The kids respected me,but,the kids of today are full of hate and dont respect their folks most the time.Whatever the crowd acts like they ditto it.....My sweet Nicole told me about my cheating spouse,after she called my folks and told them to tell Michael not to come home from a visit to relatives in reno and I visited other reletives and thats when she would go out and pick-up men and take them home to my bed....I am still like a step father to Nicole and shes still over-weight and someday she will go on a diet it gets old being over weight.She has a strong mind and Belive in her.I hope this helps someone ? Goodluck,Mike

Some of these comments shows a lack of understanding to real world issues, like being a single parent. Most single parents don't have a support system where they can leave their child with their family or friends. This parent is working two or three jobs. What do you think she has time for?
Personally, I would not be working two jobs with a child. In today's society, either you sacrifice your children or your career.

Yes. Parents are responsible for the size of their children. The fact is children can only eat what their parents allow them to eat or is accessible to them in the home. I was about 15 pounds overweight as a child and looking back on it, it unequivocally was because I had access to food 24/7 and my parents did not require that I engage in physical activity everyday. I literally would come home from school, do my homework and then sit in front of the television for 3 hours eating whatever was around. That's a recipe for disaster. As a parent now, I know it is tough to monitor a child's every move, particularly as they get older, but it's our job as parents to ensure that our children are healthy. That's the bottom-line. If you can't be at home because of work or other commitments then lock the cabinets, lock the refrigerators, get them in after school programs, do whatever it takes. Being overweight as a child puts unimaginable pressure on a child, pressure that is undeserved. As parents, we must take responsibility for the obesity crisis and stop blaming the epidemic on everybody else!!!!!!!

Give the boy his mother back!! Talk about stress and depression for both of them. If the state/county has the money to house an inmate then they surely can afford to help these people with a health program to help! Sounds like a single mother trying to provide for her son with her work hours, is there such thing as people caring and helping others? I think the first thing that should of been done was...HELP not punishment!!!!