Is overfeeding your child and allowing your child to eat whatever they want, child abuse?
I'm watching one of those talk shows right now... they have a 18 month old child that weighs 42 lbs. His mother feeds him up to 7,000 calories a day!!!! These kids are gaining an average of 3-5 lbs every month.
There's a couple of 3 year olds on here that weigh over 110 lbs. He even has sleep apnea at 3 years old. Basically some of he parents say no to their kids, kids throw a tantrum, and the parent's give them whatever they want. Some of the parents defend their actions fiercly. If their child is hungry, they get to eat and denying them food is child abuse in their minds.
IMO, these children should be taken away. Maybe their doctors should call child protection services.

I totally agree with you Jill. There is no way I would let any of my kids eat 7,000 calories in one day!!! That is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!! The kids should be taken away instantly.

IMO...if the child is at risk...then yes

Physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child.

Child Abuse has been defined as an act, or failure to act, on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in the death, serious physical or emotional harm

one of these kids drinks a gallon... a GALLON of chocolate milk a day

Isn't a major part of parenting telling your children NO??? We are supposed to teach them how to live a healthy lifestyle and you simple can not have whatever you want, how much you want, whenever you want.

yes....teaching them to be prepared for adulthood is part as well. some parents would rather give kids what they want so they don't have to deal with parenting. sad

if you don't want to deal with your kids, you shouldn't have them. It's simple. If you don't want to parent your kids, don't become a parent.

VERY true.

That is abuse. Kids need limits and boundaries to be healthy. Who is in charge in those families? Stuffing a child under any circumstance is not okay.
I grew up in a household of shame with eating. Eat what's on your plate. There are starving kids in Biafra. You can't leave the table until all the food is gone. I've suffered with food issues as a result. Oddly, when I lost weight as an adult, I had jealous sibs and a mother who was concerned I was turning into a waif. I have never been a waif!! Eating junk and too much food was integrated into the weave of our upbringing. I have one brother who is over 450 pounds and he's 59 now and still lives on his excess and junk, has to pop pills for BP and cholesterol......

I'm sorry to hear that. And GOOD for you for breaking that cycle! It's so hard. I have always have weight issues. My parents really never paid much attention to what we ate as kids and we ate as much as we wanted to. I put a stop to that as an adult and teach my child better than that. I simply don't bring junk food in the house. We portion out our food and eat healthy foods... fruits, veggies, grilled meat, etc. I can't imagine allowing my lil girl to drink a gallon on choc milk every day.

I absoutely agree. You don't give, get, or do for you child whatever THEY want, especially if it can be detrimental to them or their health, whether at the time or later on. It's our job to say no, or set limits. My kids have had their "junk food" bits occasionally, but for they have always eaten healthy. They are teenagers-17 and 15, yeah, they love junk food, but they also love and eat a LOT of vegetables, yogurt, fruits, and drink a LOT of milk and water. Even some of their friends that come here that didn't eat all that healthy at home, know that they have to here.

Anytime a parent produces a failure to thrive to a child, or neglect, it is abuse.

You and I know Biafra from seventies
That place does not exist as such
Just thought to let you know
The Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria now part of Nigeria
Hello Suz

It seems allowig ones child to over eat falls into the realm of personal choice. My boys eat like horses but they are so active it burns off. What about kids with medical conditions which predispose them to be heavy?
My 8 year old has a friend whos father was terribly overweight and died recently. The mother is huge and the poor 8 year old is about 180 pounds. He is constantly harassed by other kids not to mention the health risks.
I think that is a tough legal issue because at what point is it ignoraqnce and at what point neglect.

that's kind of what i was thinking: that it depends upon the reason. there is a genetic condition that makes a child eat...and eat and eat. prader-wisli syndrome doesn't care if mom says no, and there's no cure.

i do think that i would make certain that there were only low-calorie, healthy foods that they could chow down on, however...all the celery she could eat!

Jill, I agree with you. The parents are allowing them to do what they want because they don't want deal with the tantrums. This just does not sound like good parenting to me. I would think this is grounds for removal of the children from the home.

I watched it to

I had 4 babies

Can't imagine feeding them like that

I don't even see adults eat like that!!