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 Who is responsible for child obesity? Are parents to blame for child obesity or is the

child, itself, to blame? There are many actions being implemented to control this disease.

Michelle Obama, many newspapers, and other organizations are speaking out against this unruly

issue. But are we really looking at the main contributor? In the article, published by Journal

Times, it puts the focus on the parents of these children.

³Are parents to blame for childhood obesity?´ was an article published in the Journal

Times. The author, Amina Khan, wanted to get the point across that parents are being held

accountable for their children¶s intakes. This article was published last year in January, 2010 but

the issues of obesity have been prominent. This article talks about the dreaded and most asked

question, who¶s at fault for the rising increase of child obesity?

I think that in younger children, the parents are to blame for child obesity. These children

are given unhealthy meals to eat. Unlike older kids, they are unable to choose what enters their

body and have no other choice but to eat the food that is introduced to them. It is ridiculous that

a 6-month baby is being treated for obesity. These parents are inflicting this deadly disease onto

their children. How can a parent knowingly let their child reach this point? You see the kids on

³Maury,´ and other television shows, that are morbidly obese. In some cases, federal law has

had to step in and remove children, for what they consider neglect. In 2007, North Carolina

mother Joyce Painter was told she would lose her 255-pound, 7-year-old son if he did not show

progress in his weight loss within two months.(The Journal Times) This is just outrageous! It is

unhealthy for anyone to weigh this much, especially a 7 year old child.


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I do believe that parents should be thoroughly investigated if their child is morbidly

obese. No child should weigh this much, no matter the circumstances. A South Carolina mother,

Jerri Gray, lost custody of her son, Alexander Draper, after being charged with criminal neglect.

The 14-year-old weighed 555 pounds. Gray is facing 15 years on two felony counts, the first

U.S. felony case involving childhood obesity, said her lawyer, Grant Varner. (The Journal

Times) Should the child of been observed before being placed out of his home? There are many

questions we should ask ourselves. What if the removal of this child leads to a depression issue,

which in return, turns them to food? The author has the same stand on this issue as myself. The

parents are responsible for their children, to a certain point.

Parents cannot supervise their children 24/7. Teenagers should be held accountable for

what they intake, just as they are held responsible for their actions. In the Gray case, dealing

with the 14 yr old who weighed 555lbs, this child shouldn¶t have been taken from his family, he

is old enough to decide what he eats and does not eat. How could his parents stop him when he

is out of their supervision? Surely, he could have snuck snacks at school or other places he may

have been.

Parents are responsible for what their children eat, and how much of it. Of course, they

cannot control what their children eat when they are away from home, but most obese children

don't get that way by eating away from home. Most obese children have obese parents as well,

who were taught bad eating and nutritional habits, and pass that on to their children. If we keep

teaching our children these terrible eating habits then we can expect a long line of obesity issues.


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Socio-economic status should not be used as an excuse for obesity. If parents buy

the junk food they can buy the healthy meals as well. This all comes back to teaching your

children healthy ways. How can we expect a change if we keep up with all the same habits?

There are the cases in which there is a genetic issue. If children are prone to being obese,

is that more the reason to teach them better eating habits? I think so. Without someone taking

an action to teach these children the right lifestyle choices they will always have these health

concerns. The old say, you like what you know comes into play with this issue. A child who has

been given fruits instead of candy will not crave a candy bar in adult hood. A child who is

treated with juices and water instead of soda will reach out for the juices and will not be prone to

grabbing a calorie high soda. By teaching these healthy habits at a young age we will be cutting

back on the health issues that come along with these unhealthy meals.

Someone opposed, to punishing parents, could argue that we do not charge parents with

neglect if the children are anorexic so why should they be charged for obesity? This is a very

touchy subject that could be taken into question. Ultimately, the parents should be held

accountable for whether or not their children are healthy, physically and mentally.

I think that this author chose to write about child obesity because someone close to them

may have been affected by it. This article was wrote to speak out for children affected by this,

potentially, deadly disease.


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Parents should be responsible for what they are physically doing to their children. So I

ask you, do you think parents should be held responsible? Take in all the facts introduced in this

paper and come to a consensus on whether or not you believe that parents should be held

accountable for these actions.

Work Cited Page

Khan, Amina. ³Are parents to blame for childhood obesity?´ ¢


 , Los Angeles

Times, Jan 6, 2010. Web. March 24, 2011

Preface


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1.Y Vxplain the process you worked through to create the paper, including the dead ends you encountered and
how you finally settled on a topic. Discuss what the frustrations you encountered as you tested out topics
and then delved into the process of writing the analysis.

-From the beginning I knew what I wanted to write about but it was hard to keep coming up with more
details. That was probably my biggest frustration was getting stuck with more information but I googled
information and pushed through.

2.Y Have you written an analysis paper before? If not, what did you learn from writing the paper?

-I have not wrote an analysis paper before. I learned how to critique the article and it made me ask myself
more questions.

a.Y What work remains to be done here? What is your next step? Do you feel confident about moving forward
with revisions or do you need help?

(