Assignment task: Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have tripled (CDC, 2017) with some serious consequences for kids, families, and society. Today, nearly 20 percent of children aged 6 to 11 are obese.
Research on socialization shows there are three ways parents contribute to their child's weight problems. First, parents can influence their children's eating habits by their own food preferences and behavior (i.e. modeling) (Anzman et al, International Journal of Obesity, 2010). Second, parents control how much their children eat. If children are served large portions, then they will likely grow accustomed to eating more food than necessary. Finally, a parent influences the amount of physical activity in a child's daily life.
For these reasons, some states consider child obesity a new type child abuse and 'nutritional neglect.'
For instance, a South Carolina woman lost custody of her son and was charged with criminal neglect for failing to control the teen's weight. Her 14-year-old son, Alexander Draper, weighted 555 pounds. His mother, Jerri Gray, explains how Alexander's weight gain got out of control in this CBS News report.
In 2011, a third grade student from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was removed from his home after growing to 218 pounds; the average weight for an eight-year-old boy is 57 pounds. Social workers from the Department of Children and Family Services put the 'severely obese' boy in foster care because his mother was not doing enough to control his weight.
The case, and comments made by Harvard University pediatric obesity expert David Ludwig, set off an unresolved national debate about the point at which childhood weight problems become child abuse. Dr. Ludwig made controversial comments in the Journal of the American Medical Association advocating the removal of children from their families in acute cases. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
1. Based on what you've learned about socialization (in Chapter 4), how much are parents responsible for their children's excessive weight?
2. Should overfeeding a child to the point where he or she becomes extremely obese constitute child abuse or neglect? Please explain.
3. Should parents be prosecuted for allowing their children to become morbidly obese? Why or why not?
4. Should morbidly obese children be taken out of their homes and into protective custody--i.e., weight-combating foster care homes? Why or why not?
5. Considering childhood obesity from a sociological perspective, what is the best way to fight this U.S. epidemic?