Fourteen stone child 'risks care'

[Ja Di ksw]

So the decision of parents should be second to the beliefs of a social worker? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that eating meat is wrong for children and wants my child taken from me? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that me taking my daughter out for walks during the winter is not in the child's interest.

At what point do we appoint social workers the parents of our children? If they really want such broad decision making power, they can stay up with her when she's ill, help her with her homework, and provide the love that I clearly cannot.

Careful with that slipperly slope, it can run both ways. So social workers should not be able to take away a child that is being beaten? Molested? Starved? I know what's best for my own child, and that's to be chained to the wall in the basement everytime he doesn't do exactly what I want!

No, it's not going to be perfect. It NEVER will be. But we have a large group of people who look at the situation and all interact to make it as good as it can be. It's not one person's decision, and there are always appeals.

As for the "genetic disorder," well, it could be, I haven't done tests on the child, but I'm hoping the social workers will. Judging from what the woman says, though, I doubt it. Also, people seem to forget basic physics when they talk about how they are fat or whatnot because of their genetics. If you take more energy in than you use, you will get fat. If you use more than you take it, you will lose weight. If you balance it, your weight will stay roughly balanced. There is no way around that. I may have the most screwed up thyroid in the world, but if I don't eat more calories than I burn, I will not gain weight.

 

[Scintor]

Genetics and fat

As for the "genetic disorder," well, it could be, I haven't done tests on the child, but I'm hoping the social workers will. Judging from what the woman says, though, I doubt it. Also, people seem to forget basic physics when they talk about how they are fat or whatnot because of their genetics. If you take more energy in than you use, you will get fat. If you use more than you take it, you will lose weight. If you balance it, your weight will stay roughly balanced. There is no way around that. I may have the most screwed up thyroid in the world, but if I don't eat more calories than I burn, I will not gain weight.

I love that argument! I take it you have never known a truly skinny person. The biggest eaters I have ever seen in my life are not morbidly obese people but rail thin people. I had a friend in college who was skinny as a rail who ate three heaping plates of food for EVERY meal. The man never gained an ounce. He easily ate six times as much as I did, and yet I gained weight during the time I knew him and he did not! Your argument only works if the human digestive system is 100% effecient. It is nowhere near that!
The other problem with you argument is that if what you say is absolutely true, dieting would be an effective way to lose weight in the long run. EVERY SINGLE STUDY has shown that the long term effect of dieting is weight gain. Not a few studies, not most studies, ALL OF THEM!
Now it is obvious that neither Conner nor his mother have good habits, but I have to come back to the point that he is a foot taller than he should be at age EIGHT! That is a pretty darn obvious sign that he has a genetic abnormality. 'Well, can they test him for that?' The answer is NO! The only have tests for a few well known genetic disorders (I know this because I used to work for one of the only medical labs in the world that did that kind of genetic testing.) If he has one of the thousands of rare genetic disorders that have not been studied extensively (or even named for that matter,) he cannot be 'tested for it' because no such test exists!
Almost everyone who has written or commented on Conner's situation have said a variation on 'he's fat because he is lazy and a glutton.' Amazing that he could break five bicycles while sitting on the couch! The more generous people say 'it's his mother's fault because she does not force him to eat right.' Do you know that you have to force a normal child to overeat? Now, his mother has obviously given up on trying to force him not to eat. If you read some of the local reports on Conner you would have found out that his weight problem did not start when he was old enough to ask for extra food. It started when he was an infant. Infants only eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. It is not possible to overfeed an infant short of a feeding tube. There is more than enough evidence to show that Conner has a genetic disorder.
OK, so what can we do about it. The answer may be nothing. If he was a normal kid, your and others suggestion of restricting his food or teaching his mother about nutrition might work. But, five foot tall eight year olds are NOT NORMAL! Now a hurculean effort requiring ten times the amount of effort of working with a normal child might work. Now it is all well and good for you to sit back on your couch and say 'Conner's mother should obviously do that.' Unfortunately, parents in general do not do this, or else we would not have the massive prevelance of childhood sex, drinking and drugs.
Unfortunately, telling people to 'buck up and do everything right' just doesn't work in the real world, especially if there is an extraordinary problem to overcome. Mrs. McCreaddie has asked for help and has been soundly criticised for this. Everyone seems to say 'well he's fat and its your fault, so you deal with it.' In other cases, foundations come foward or are started from scratch and celebrities come out of the woodwork with offers of help. But, in this case 'he's just fat,' so I have not heard of one single person willing to lift a finger.
But, since five foot tall eight year olds are a common sight, the common answer that everyone knows should work perfectly.

Scincerely,
Scintor@aol.com

 

[Ja Di ksw]

Exercise increases weight gain???

I love that argument! I take it you have never known a truly skinny person. The biggest eaters I have ever seen in my life are not morbidly obese people but rail thin people. I had a friend in college who was skinny as a rail who ate three heaping plates of food for EVERY meal. The man never gained an ounce. He easily ate six times as much as I did, and yet I gained weight during the time I knew him and he did not! Your argument only works if the human digestive system is 100% effecient. It is nowhere near that!
The other problem with you argument is that if what you say is absolutely true, dieting would be an effective way to lose weight in the long run. EVERY SINGLE STUDY has shown that the long term effect of dieting is weight gain. Not a few studies, not most studies, ALL OF THEM!
Now it is obvious that neither Conner nor his mother have good habits, but I have to come back to the point that he is a foot taller than he should be at age EIGHT! That is a pretty darn obvious sign that he has a genetic abnormality. 'Well, can they test him for that?' The answer is NO! The only have tests for a few well known genetic disorders (I know this because I used to work for one of the only medical labs in the world that did that kind of genetic testing.) If he has one of the thousands of rare genetic disorders that have not been studied extensively (or even named for that matter,) he cannot be 'tested for it' because no such test exists!
Almost everyone who has written or commented on Conner's situation have said a variation on 'he's fat because he is lazy and a glutton.' Amazing that he could break five bicycles while sitting on the couch! The more generous people say 'it's his mother's fault because she does not force him to eat right.' Do you know that you have to force a normal child to overeat? Now, his mother has obviously given up on trying to force him not to eat. If you read some of the local reports on Conner you would have found out that his weight problem did not start when he was old enough to ask for extra food. It started when he was an infant. Infants only eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. It is not possible to overfeed an infant short of a feeding tube. There is more than enough evidence to show that Conner has a genetic disorder.
OK, so what can we do about it. The answer may be nothing. If he was a normal kid, your and others suggestion of restricting his food or teaching his mother about nutrition might work. But, five foot tall eight year olds are NOT NORMAL! Now a hurculean effort requiring ten times the amount of effort of working with a normal child might work. Now it is all well and good for you to sit back on your couch and say 'Conner's mother should obviously do that.' Unfortunately, parents in general do not do this, or else we would not have the massive prevelance of childhood sex, drinking and drugs.
Unfortunately, telling people to 'buck up and do everything right' just doesn't work in the real world, especially if there is an extraordinary problem to overcome. Mrs. McCreaddie has asked for help and has been soundly criticised for this. Everyone seems to say 'well he's fat and its your fault, so you deal with it.' In other cases, foundations come foward or are started from scratch and celebrities come out of the woodwork with offers of help. But, in this case 'he's just fat,' so I have not heard of one single person willing to lift a finger.
But, since five foot tall eight year olds are a common sight, the common answer that everyone knows should work perfectly.

Scincerely,
Scintor@aol.com

You misinterpreted my statement (admittedly, that's very easy to do). I was talking about how much energy you take in, not how much food you eat. I specifically said that because the digestive system is not 100%, as you've noted. The efficiency will also vary from person to person. I also talked about energy spent (or calories burned), not working out, because people will vary in how much energy they spend doing the same activity.

Now, we get to the point where you said that no study shows that working out causes weight loss, and that in fact all of them (you make a big point about how it's all of them), show that the long term is weight gain. I'm going to be blunt here. That just shot down any credibility you have. Perhaps I'm now misinterpreting you, but exercise causes weight *gain*? Unless you are possibly talking about muscle mass . . . . , but, no, not even then. A subject that isn't very narrow where all research studies had the exact same results is rare. One that goes against what is accepted by the entire medical community, kinesiology community, etc? And as basic as exercise affecting weight loss? You're going to have to provide the links to several (*legitimate*) studies on the subject before I can take you seriously again.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I love that argument! I take it you have never known a truly skinny person. The biggest eaters I have ever seen in my life are not morbidly obese people but rail thin people. I had a friend in college who was skinny as a rail who ate three heaping plates of food for EVERY meal. The man never gained an ounce. He easily ate six times as much as I did, and yet I gained weight during the time I knew him and he did not! Your argument only works if the human digestive system is 100% effecient. It is nowhere near that!
The other problem with you argument is that if what you say is absolutely true, dieting would be an effective way to lose weight in the long run. EVERY SINGLE STUDY has shown that the long term effect of dieting is weight gain. Not a few studies, not most studies, ALL OF THEM!
Now it is obvious that neither Conner nor his mother have good habits, but I have to come back to the point that he is a foot taller than he should be at age EIGHT! That is a pretty darn obvious sign that he has a genetic abnormality. 'Well, can they test him for that?' The answer is NO! The only have tests for a few well known genetic disorders (I know this because I used to work for one of the only medical labs in the world that did that kind of genetic testing.) If he has one of the thousands of rare genetic disorders that have not been studied extensively (or even named for that matter,) he cannot be 'tested for it' because no such test exists!
Almost everyone who has written or commented on Conner's situation have said a variation on 'he's fat because he is lazy and a glutton.' Amazing that he could break five bicycles while sitting on the couch! The more generous people say 'it's his mother's fault because she does not force him to eat right.' Do you know that you have to force a normal child to overeat? Now, his mother has obviously given up on trying to force him not to eat. If you read some of the local reports on Conner you would have found out that his weight problem did not start when he was old enough to ask for extra food. It started when he was an infant. Infants only eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. It is not possible to overfeed an infant short of a feeding tube. There is more than enough evidence to show that Conner has a genetic disorder.
OK, so what can we do about it. The answer may be nothing. If he was a normal kid, your and others suggestion of restricting his food or teaching his mother about nutrition might work. But, five foot tall eight year olds are NOT NORMAL! Now a hurculean effort requiring ten times the amount of effort of working with a normal child might work. Now it is all well and good for you to sit back on your couch and say 'Conner's mother should obviously do that.' Unfortunately, parents in general do not do this, or else we would not have the massive prevelance of childhood sex, drinking and drugs.
Unfortunately, telling people to 'buck up and do everything right' just doesn't work in the real world, especially if there is an extraordinary problem to overcome. Mrs. McCreaddie has asked for help and has been soundly criticised for this. Everyone seems to say 'well he's fat and its your fault, so you deal with it.' In other cases, foundations come foward or are started from scratch and celebrities come out of the woodwork with offers of help. But, in this case 'he's just fat,' so I have not heard of one single person willing to lift a finger.
But, since five foot tall eight year olds are a common sight, the common answer that everyone knows should work perfectly.

Scincerely,
Scintor@aol.com

Five foot tall at 8??? holy cow that kid will be tall. I wasn't five foot until 12!

 

[Scintor]

You misinterpreted my statement (admittedly, that's very easy to do). I was talking about how much energy you take in, not how much food you eat. I specifically said that because the digestive system is not 100%, as you've noted. The efficiency will also vary from person to person. I also talked about energy spent (or calories burned), not working out, because people will vary in how much energy they spend doing the same activity.

Now, we get to the point where you said that no study shows that working out causes weight loss, and that in fact all of them (you make a big point about how it's all of them), show that the long term is weight gain. I'm going to be blunt here. That just shot down any credibility you have. Perhaps I'm now misinterpreting you, but exercise causes weight *gain*? Unless you are possibly talking about muscle mass . . . . , but, no, not even then. A subject that isn't very narrow where all research studies had the exact same results is rare. One that goes against what is accepted by the entire medical community, kinesiology community, etc? And as basic as exercise affecting weight loss? You're going to have to provide the links to several (*legitimate*) studies on the subject before I can take you seriously again.

No! I said that dieting causes weight gain. Excercise can cause wieght loss and if you read the articles about Conner carefully, he has been exercising. You don't break five bicycles without a lot of physical activity. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working.
Also just to yank your chain, the first thing that happens to most people that start an exercise routine is wieght gain. The first couple of weeks, their muscle tissue fills out, which is much denser that fat tissue, and the have have a temporary peroid of expected weight gain. Now if their exercise program is successful, they will start losing fat weight. But, in fact exercise does cause wieght gain, in the short term.

Scincerely,

Scintor@aol.com

 

[Keebler]

No! I said that dieting causes weight gain. Excercise can cause wieght loss and if you read the articles about Conner carefully, he has been exercising. You don't break five bicycles without a lot of physical activity. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working.
Also just to yank your chain, the first thing that happens to most people that start an exercise routine is wieght gain. The first couple of weeks, their muscle tissue fills out, which is much denser that fat tissue, and the have have a temporary peroid of expected weight gain. Now if their exercise program is successful, they will start losing fat weight. But, in fact exercise does cause wieght gain, in the short term.

Scincerely,

Scintor@aol.com

to add to what scintor said, he's right. exercise can cause weight gain b/c it builds muscle. muscle is heavier than fat. but the more muscle you have, means it's more calories and fat that is burned by the muscles. So, weight gain isn't the issue.

it's body fat that is the concern. connor is exercising and that is great. but ppl shouldn't be focused on his weight right now. they should be focused on his body fat percentage. also, by increasing muscle mass, it increases the metabolism. now this might be different for connor given the possibility of a genetic issue. this is why cardio exercise is great for burning weight, but that only lasts for a short time after you exercise. but weight lifting, which can be as simple as push ups or pilates, burns calories ALL DAY LONG. therefore, burning more fat off the body.

this is all related to this absolutely silly and full of nonsense BMI (body mass index). i'm sure connor's is through the roof, but you know....someone could have a bmi of 26 with a body fat percentage of 8%. their bmi is high b/c their weight is high, but that doesn't show the fact that the body is full of muscle and not fat.

hope that helps. i'm just glad that the family is getting help and they are isolating the issue for connor.