Is this child abuse?

[Lace Neil Singer]

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/a...st-months.html

This woman admits to buying her toddlers junk food like Wotsits and McDonalds. In short, overfeeding them. Would that count as abuse, same as starving kids would? Or do you think that every mother has the right to feed her kids what she likes?

[AdminAssistant]

I wouldn't say it's "abuse"...just not very smart.

[Boozy]

It's abuse if the mother is knowingly trying to make her children ill. But this woman just sounds like an idiot. She's seemed very proud of herself for giving the children vegetables "every Sunday", for example. She quite honestly appears to have no clue.

By the way, what's a wotsit?

[tropicsgoddess]

It's abuse if the mother is knowingly trying to make her children ill. But this woman just sounds like an idiot. She's seemed very proud of herself for giving the children vegetables "every Sunday", for example. She quite honestly appears to have no clue.

I agree. That mother has no idea that what she's doing is not only harming her but also her children now and in the long run as well. She and her kids will be at high risk for diabetes, joint, respiratory issues, high blood pressure or worse...shortened life expectancy for all three. I'm not sure what 30 stone equates to, but judging from her pictures she has to be well over 300lbs. Here is a good example of intentionally hurting a child: Kathy Bush.

[crazylegs]

I'm not sure what 30 stone equates to, but judging from her pictures she has to be well over 300lbs.

Yep. 420lbs in fact...

I've just read the article, and as is usual from The Daily (Hate) Mail the article is littered with irrelevent information, such as her sexual history, her standards of housekeeping, the cost of delivering her children, her financial state etc etc etc. I wonder if there is a more balanced article out there somewhere?

[Boozy]

I don't think a reputable paper would report on this story at all, to be honest. An obese woman and her children eating junk food isn't really news.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Ahem; the story wasn't just in the Mail.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...fast-food.html

Just cuz you dislike a paper, does not mean that the story is false. I personally despise the Mail and their hysterical "What is the world coming to?" stories; however, I've seen people like this woman in the real world, so I can certainly believe it. -.- Like the woman who tried to pay for her beer with milk tokens, or this woman I saw giving her toddler a cream cake. Saying "Oh, it's in a tabloid, therefore it's untrue" is just a strawman.

[Boozy]

I don't doubt that it's true. I was just saying that if crazylegs was looking for a piece about this in the Times, he may be looking for a while.

Then again, I'm not as familiar with English newspapers as I am with North American ones. Human interest stories like this may feature more prominently there than here. And sometimes even the venerable New York Times will run a fluff piece as filler.

[Sableonblonde]

It is absolutely child abuse.

I was raised on fast food, pizza, candy, and ice cream by my overweight parents. As a result I was chubby all throughout my childhood and into my teen years. For one thing, it made me a freak and an outcast. Also, junk food can be addicting. It was making me depressed and lethargic for years and I never understood the cause. Now that I'm an adult, I lead a considerably more healthy and nutrition-conscious lifestyle. I don't like the way junk food makes me feel. If I ever did have a kid, I absolutely would not feed them fast food. I can't even eat fast food anymore, and I used to eat it every single day.

[crazylegs]

Ahem; the story wasn't just in the Mail.

Oh, I don't doubt for one moment the actual story, I was passing comment on how it was reported, and how the Mail was placing irrelevent facts into the story to ridicule and incite a lack of understanding. It also reinforces some peoples opinion that single mothers are on benefits, that the obese are lazy etc etc etc.

I'll also cite this excellent essay which shows just how open minded Closer magazine is.

If you would be so kind I would love you to point out where I put in the following phrase... "Oh, it's in a tabloid, therefore it's untrue"

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sorry if I jumped to conclusions; it's just that on another forum I go on, if you use as a source a tabloid newspaper, the people there immediately discount the story and refuse to believe it's true. Meaning that I end up having to dig thru the web for at least two other sources to back it up, which is a pain as often a tabloid will get the facts just as straight as a broadsheet, but will do just as you said; ie, put in lots of irrelevant details. When you bashed the source, I assumed you were thinking likewise; again, I'm sorry for that assumption.

Anyway, can we please get back to discussing the issue at hand, which is what this woman feeds her children? What gets to me is the fact that she doesn't claim responsibilty for her condition; she claims it's medical. It's a fact that a very small percentage of obesity is down to medical conditions; the fact that she eats junk food and doesn't exercise has more to do with it. It's awful that she only leaves the house once a week; the babies need fresh air and to be taken out far more times than that. Worse, she's also encouraging them to follow her own bad habits, ensuring they will more than likely end up obese and with major health problems in the future. Not to mention being bullied at school for being fat, and for having a fat mother. Surely any mother who loved her kids would want to spare them that?

[DesignFox]

I dunno. The fact that this mother refuses to cook or clean. Refuses to leave the house. Refuses to get a job and stays on benefits are all relevant to her story.

She is lazy. She is hurting her children and encouraging them to grow up to be deadbeats just like she is.

I see nothing wrong with reporting those facts. Any self-respecting person would at least TRY to do something about their own condition or help prevent the same condition from occurring in their children.

I don't look at that story and think that all heavy people must be deadbeats. That simply isn't true. But in HER case, it's purely self inflicted. She CAN better herself, she CHOOSES not to. With all the free health care and government services available to her living NOT in the USA- she has no fucking excuse.

She should have to change her ways or have her children taken from her and placed into loving homes- with people who will properly care for them and prevent them from ending up in the same vicious cycle their mother has put herself in.

[AFPheonix]

She has plenty of opportunity to learn proper nutrition for herself and her children. She obviously has had the services available of several doctors including pediatricians since her babies were premature. She gets visits from a health professional of some kind every week. She lives with her mom and doesn't appear to work, so she should have some time to go read up on proper nutrition and childcare.
In her case, it's willful ignorance about her own health and her childrens'. I would equate having the tools to properly take care of your child and not bothering to with abuse. In her case, she may have some mental illness going on, but I'm not really sure.

[Lachrymose]

It's abuse if the mother is knowingly trying to make her children ill.

Is abuse really dependent upon intentions of the abuser? I wouldn't think so.

[Boozy]

Not in most cases. But I think an argument can be made that intent is important in this case.

Children's services probably wouldn't classify this mother's actions as "abuse", but that's not to say they wouldn't become involved if the children's health started to suffer. A mother in my hometown had her children removed from her home due to this kind of thing. I believe the charge was "neglect", as in, neglecting the health of her kids.