Is it right for me to say, that Childhood obesity is the parents fault?

Question

I walk the streets and go out to dinner with my family, I see so many overweight Adults and there children. This is a MAJOR problem and a health epidemic. Is it right to say, that Parents are at fault for having Obese children...

"I hate hearing the excuse" I am just big boned" BS, I have NEVER see a fat skeleton in my life.

What is your input on childhood obesity.

Answer 1

hi there well first off i think that it is the parents fault i mean if you feed your child soda and then he or she gets fat i dont think its anyone elses fault except for yours. however i do eat healthy but i am big boned  i am not fat but i do have alot more bone mass then most

Answer 2

It may be thier fault, but there is also a chance that the child has a medical condition...

dont be so quick to judge until you know the truth...

Answer 3

I think it also has to do with genetics.

My parents served only healthy foods and never had any c**p around the house....there was only ever fruit for desert....and yet...I was a heavy child.  The only one in my family in fact that was heavy.  And I ate "right" and played sports...and was still heavy....still am, I go to the gym every day and I eat lots of fresh raw vegetables & fruits.... Go figure.

I hate thin people mouthing off about overweight adults....but that's just me.

Answer 4

Sometimes is a thyroid issue, but that is a small minority. For most overweight kids and adults, its all about eating habits. I do think its the parent's fault. I usually hear that the adult suffered from self esteem issues due to the weight as a child, so its really sad to see them leading their kids down the same path.

Answer 5

You are partially right. Most of obesity is bad eating habits - these are established by the parents. But some families do have a genetic tendency toward being large - you see it sometimes when whole families are large. When you see a family with 5 kids - 4 of them thin and one fat - then that child most likely has some imbalance.

Answer 6

It is 100% the parents. My feeling on it is that it should be charged as *pre-meditated attempted murder*. It is killing the child, and the parents are the ones carrying that out. a 15 year old 300lb kid will be lucky to live past 30, if they did...they would then have all sorts of serious healthy problems. People blame being "fat" on everything under the sun. At the end of the day it is a choice....they choose to sit on their butt and eat 24/7. They could choose to be out running a mile a day and eating a 2500 calorie healthy diet. For kids, it is the parents doing the shopping, they bring the food in...it is their fault! Being a 5'7 130lb mom of 2, and 15 weeks 3 days pregnant with #3....obesity makes me sick to my stomach! To me it is one of the most disgusting things ever, it's gross. There is no excuse for it. Even medical excuses for it are PROVEN to be controled. Diet/excersize!

There is no reason for people to be pushing 200 lbs unless they are like 6'5! Seriously. Kid's or adults for that matter.

Medical fact: Women who have a waist over 35 inches around...are 40% more likely to have heart problems. Men with a waist over 40 inches are 40% more likely to have heart problems.

Being morbidly obese increases your death rate by 80% within 10-15 years!

Why are people ignoring all of this and still stuffing their faces!!!!!! It's sick and nuts!

Answer 7

Well, it really can't always be blamed on the parents.  Some people really do just have large frames and will never be skinny but could reach a healthy weight for their frame.  And there are some disorders and problems that some people do face which are genetically inherited and cause people to be overweight.  But for at least 80% of overweight kids, it is definitely the parents fault.  In my opinion, if your kid is morbidly obese and you don't change the family's eating habits, that's a form of child abuse.  Just keep your mind open to that other percentage of kids who really are healthy for their frame or have a condition they can't help.

Answer 8

I think it's more complicated than that. Certainly if the children are living in a normal, middle class area, the parents should have better control over what their children eat. But if the kids are unfortunate enough to live in a poor, crime ridden area, it gets a little trickier. For example, in a bad neighborhood, you might not let your child play outside so they stay in, glued to the tube. And, because processed foods are cheaper than fresh, you buy the bad stuff because it's what you can afford. Finally, there are some medical conditions that contribute to overweight and obesity. I would never put anything just on the parents.

Answer 9

Well yes and no

I know parents who are not over weight and they don't have junk in their homes yet their kids really are genetically bigger.  (probably from another family member).  I will use me as an example My mom is a size 6 my dad is under 180 my younger brother is a stick.  My mom allways made veggies and balanced food we never had soda, cookies or chips in the home but i was and am over wieght.  Can my parents be blamed for that or my mothers big family genes that i inherited.

Now if the parents let the kids eat soda chips, sugary ceral, fast food several times a week then the parents can be blamed.

Answer 10

It is definitely about the family eating habits....if the parents eat badly, the child will too(makes sense, since the parents buy the food for the house). Also, it can be genetic.

Answer 11

i think you may be partially right. a lot of parents let their kids eat junk too much. kids should not be eating chicken nuggets and fries 3-5 times a week. or drinking soda. or kool aid. that stuff is awful. America in general is a fat country. we have bad diets. everything is fast and easy and super sized. so if that's what we are eating, that's what are kids are eating too. in my house we don't even have a microwave. my husband bought one, i brought it back. it's too easy to microwave a hot dog.....if you have to cook it, you probably won't bother. we cook a lot in bulk and freeze it. like spaghetti sauce, chicken, anything. it's much healthier. i agree that there are too many people overweight, and way too many kids overweight. i won't be one of them, and neither will my kids. we call "fast food" "fat food".....of course we eat it occasionally, but not more than once a month.

Answer 12

Parents can be a major factor in childhood obesity. You fail to note the many other factors that can affect a persons weight.

Genetics, hormones, medications, and even physical defects can all cause obesity, regardless of the child's diet and exercise habits.

So I'm going to go with, "no," it's not okay for you to say that childhood obesity is the parents' fault. That is making an assumption without having all of the facts. And a person actually *can* be "big boned." It's not that the skeleton is "fat" (rather impossible since the fat is entirely separate from the frame) what it is is that the frame is wider.

I am far from being overweight (I only have about 18% body fat) but I can understand the misery that a person must go through when they are uncomfortable in their own skins. I hope the people who have strewn widespread insults directed at overweight people without taking a moment to understand what they must be going through feel ashamed.

I apologize for the unfair words of some of the people on this board.

Answer 13

You're 100% correct...

Answer 14

When the child is overweight because the parents are stuffing him/her with all the junk food said child can eat, then, yes, it's the parents' fault... Those shows that depict parents giving their toddlers 5 pancakes, 6 sausages, 3 pieces of buttery toast (for breakfast), and 6 slices of pizza with 2 cups of pop for lunch? Yeah, that's the fault of the parent, and there's no excuse for that... However, that's not always the case... Sometimes there truly is a disorder.

Answer 15

I think that **most of the time its the parents fault.  There are several medical reasons that can cause obesity in children.  

If they are not sick though, then its absolutly the parents fault.  The parents are in control of what their children eat.  (of course the excuse is, I cant watch them 24/7..   well no, you cant, but you can control what kind of food you feed them and the kind of food you keep in the house).  The parents are the ones who let the kids go without exercise.

And the thing is, if you start these good habits from day 1, the bad habits dont develop.  

And others are just too lazy to get past their own addictions and bad habbits. They know they should change themselves for the sake of their children, but its too hard.  They get defense about it because they feel guilty for not making the effort to try.

Answer 16

in most cases it is the parents fault for instilling bad eating habits in there kids.

In my case I am big boned, my body won't allow me to be "skinny."  I am a former anorexic, I did not eat more than a few mouthfuls of rice each day for over a year and a half, drank alot of water and worked out for 3 hours every day, to the point of passing out and I was never able to get below 156 lbs and out of a size 14 pants.  As you can imagine for an anorexic it was devastating to me, I gave it up, a bit bigger then that now, but people tell me I look like I weigh what I did when in the throes of starvation, where as when I was in those throes people told me I looked like I was about to die.  I was at a normal height weight range for me, according to doctors, according to the same ones I am now medically obese.

We eat healthy organic handmade meals, consisting of more grain and veggie then meat.  We work out daily, and yet I am still considered overweight.

Answer 17

obesity isn't always about eating habits, sometimes it's from genetics, my mother was obese, and i am obese, though i have been trying for years to lose weight and keep it off.

Answer 18

Kids learn from their parents, and they don't learn good eating habits by themselves.

Answer 19

I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to obesity; heredity, metabolic disorders, laziness, etc. But I do believe parents play a major role because they are responsible for teaching their kids healthy eating habits and for making sure healthy foods are available for the kids to eat at home. If a parent continues to buy McDonald's and donuts all the time, you can't blame the child. Kids will eat what they're offered.