The obesity epidemic is only becoming more world wide spread as years continue to pass. Obesity has dramatically caused many negative effects on America and the way we live today. Obesity is simply defined as having excessive body fat usually resulting in serious medical problems. More specifically, though, obesity occurs when a person's Body Mass Index (BMI) — or, their weight in kilometers divided by the square of height in meters — exceeds 30 or greater. Studies have shown that about 13 million children and adolescents ages 2-19 are obese according to the article “Childhood Obesity: Can it Really Be Child Neglect?” by Abbie Goldbas. What the courts are trying to understand is whether or not this would be considered negligence and if parents …show more content…
Parents have failed to do their job when an obese child is raised because under the law parents and caretakers have to keep that child safe, where now parents have created an unhealthy and unsafe environment for the child due to the health risks that come along with being morbidly obese at such a young age. According to the article “Parents of Obese Children and Charges of Child Abuse: What is Our Response?” the author Kellie R. Lang writes that parents have failed to notice and take action of the medical problems that have been caused do to being a morbidly obese child which is the reason why the parents or guardians are charged with child abuse. This article gives a case example in Texas in the year 2002, when a mother was stripped of her parental rights because she had let her 5 year old daughter weigh 136 pounds, she experienced a hard time breathing and an enlarged heart. Society has put this figurative rule on children encouraging them to eat more using advertisement and commercials and exercising less and less, this is where the parents have to encourage their children to eat healthier, and engage them in some kind of physical activity so that the risk of obesity and overweight children could