Whats up with kids these days?

[Confession]

Umm I really dont know what to say becides "got any popcorn"

This is shocking, The 400 pound 7 year old

The link title says it all.
To be 7 years old and not being able to walk... is just shocking.
Do you think this is a case of bad parenting? or just children these days with the wide variety of junk out there, just gorging themselves?

[Doc Rocco]

I think this is bad parenting. What parent would allow their child to eat enough food to reach this kind of weight? Okay, so at first it may have been just a little overeating, but once the kid became obese, would you not make him cut down on food, or see some sort of medical professional? As far as I'm concerned, that is child abuse. No child should be allowed to reach that sort of weight. What were the parents on, letting him eat himself into oblivion?

As a side note, some of the comments on that video were horrible. Just because the kid's weight is out of control is no reason to ridicule them. That's another serious problem with kids these days. No courtesy or respect. Just plain rude and obnoxious.

Oh, by the way, I am technically still a kid, but I do respect others. Just thought I'd share that. Hehe...

[Rasler]

I doubt its something as simple as overeating or poor lifestyle. I've seen an experiment in which the "controls-sensation-of-hunger" part of the brain in a hamster was mode-locked on, with eerily similar imagery to this video. The human body almost never does this; there are psychological, physical, and external prevention measures in place. The brain has "I've had enough" settings, there are biological functions to limit this kind of extreme result, and usually, a parent would have stepped in and prevented this by now. I suspect there to be some biological disorder at work here, which is only PART of the problem.

These days, it's less of a problem with the children and more of a problem with parenting. Parents simply don't discipline as well as they used to. Notice the reaction from her mother: "You could see her in the car, and yeah, she's getting a little big." Really, you're so incredibly insightful there, you criminally negligent parent. All it would've taken was "Wow, you're really very overweight. Let's get you to a doctor to see what we can do fix this and avoid this again in the future. If it's my fault, then I'll immediately stop doing whatever I'm doing wrong and do it right from now on."

On the topic of what's up with kids these days in general: I mostly blame the parents.

Parents deserve 90% of the blame for the actions of their children, until that child is an adult.

The most common problems I've observed are:

Parents don't do much disciplining any more. Behavior modification through any number of methods is fine, but physical discipline should be used sparingly, as it sometimes tends to create an endless spiral of "I hit you because my parents hit me." Also, go in and toss the room every now and again and search for illicit materials. The child will not want to secretly possess weapons, drugs, or unapproved entertainment.

If your child plays violent video games or watches violent movies, limit the exposure and most important of all, MAKE DAMN SURE the kid knows the difference between fantasy/entertainment and reality.

Parents aren't "hip". They often shrug off whatever the kiddies are in to, considering it a harmless waste of time. We know this is a false and dangerous assumption. Even worse, they often aren't educated about ratings or control systems. I have seen cases where parents didn't know that "Grand Theft Auto" was not a suitable game for children (Really?! I wanted to hit this woman. With my back-hand.). Parents also rarely use censoring, via V-chip, parental control software, etc.

Parents don't do nearly enough monitoring. All it takes is an occasional secret anonymous visit to your child's Myspace page, 10 minutes of observing whatever game the child's playing or the movie the child's watching to determine if it's acceptable, etc.

If your kid's a psycho, it's your fault for not noticing or preventing it. Stop blaming it on other stuff.


Now, note that I'm only speaking in generalities. Exceptions and extreme cases do occur.

[Furore]

Do you think this is a case of bad parenting?

Pretty much. As has been mentioned if a kid is getting that gargantuan (even a couple years back at 5 she was huge according to that video), she really does need medical help. And the parents will need to help out there as she can't just walk to the hospital. (Sliding cross country would probably be quite unhygienic and the friction might cause harm).

or just children these days with the wide variety of junk out there, just gorging themselves?

That too. What's really amazing is that they still seem to be able to afford to keep eating with how much the prices have been jacked up. When I was that age, $2 got a big packet of chips and some soda, these days I'm lucky to get the chips alone for that price...

But yeah, kids eat too much, they get bigger, they seem to be able to eat more and so on. I've seen some little ones who can out eat me at buffets.
And that's just sad as I eat a ton at buffets...

Parents don't do nearly enough monitoring. All it takes is an occasional secret anonymous visit to your child's Myspace page, 10 minutes of observing whatever game the child's playing or the movie the child's watching to determine if it's acceptable, etc.

Well said. A good indication of things AND free entertainment, albeit possibly briefly. Hell, they might score some free games if the kid paid for them and they got taken away.

[Dimi]

**** this. This shit pisses me off. I fully blame the parents for even allowing their own child to gain such a massive amount of weight. And at 400 pounds!!!! That's about a bit more twice my weight and what's more ****ed is this is a little girl who's not even an adult going through obesity.

I do believe it's what her parents have provided her with that has caused her to reach this point. It angers me how she can't even walk or how she's at a high risk for diseases like diabeties.

And I agree with Rocco, I was looking at the comments at some of the people posted and that put me more on edge about this whole thing. I hope the little girl is able to walk properly and lose that weight. It's sad to see someone so young go through something like that.

[Imposter]

Rack another one up for bad parenting. I was disgusted at the fact that instead of stepping up and helping the girl, they pulled out a video camera and recorded her so they could get the media to parade her about. At the very least though the media didn't tool on her too and is getting her help.

Kudos to Fishie and Doc Roc for bringing in the point that there isn't many kids these days being raised to respect others. It seems to me that the product of the mass majority of parenting has taught a lot a kids that self is the only one who matters these days. Which leads to a huge amount of rudeness shown in kids.

Like Rasler said it doesn't take much time to check stuff out, and when kids are young you can't expect common sense to guide them very well...look where it got her.

[Unknown Entity]

Lol, my nan remembers the day when if she did something bad at school, then the teachers could hit you. Kids ran around the street - GOOD kids - and stayed healthy because there was no television. Pocket money was only given out a few times a month, and they were lucky to get what they were given. Thing were a lot more strict back then, and I think thats half the problem with today.

When a child is overweight - especially to that weight! - parents should notice this, and take action, BEFORE it gets to late. Parents are to balme for this. If they aren't chucking money at them, they are spoiling them with... crap!

Crap/Fast food isn't the best stuff to be feeding your kids from a young age - its a treat to have once in a while, but stupid when you're ****ing living off the shite. Kids need vitamins, and GOOD food at ages as young as that! Crap does nothing for them - especially if they aren't getting exercise to burn it off.

Now, how do children get get fast food? Parents! BAD parents! Who constantly feed their kids JUNK! This has worked me up big time man...

[FF Ace Cid]

BAD PARENTING!!! It is the only explanation. How could the parents allow their child to gorge themselves that much. This is very, very wrong of the parents. How could you allow your child to become bigger than yourself? Outrageous! Disgusting! Pathetic parenting! Even as an uncle, I have better parenting skills than whoever raised this child. About anyone can be a parent than these parents. Their child can't even walk, that is awful. She obviously can't go to school. This is unacceptable. The child was obviously in charge.

As for children's bad dietary habits, that may be true, but not to this level. I don't see how a child could eat that much, or how a parent wouldn't prevent them from continuing to eat that much.

Pure wrong and senseless, and irresponsible, pathetic, I am disgusted.

[Yuki-onna]

Worst thing parents do nowadays: give the child what it wants so it'll stop whining. No one's raised perfectly, but I can say for my own upbringing, I'm glad I wasn't spoiled, because in extreme cases, this is what happens.

Parents are supposed to be there to teach a child what's right (at least, in a general sense - I'm not getting into the ultimate right and wrongs here...) and guide them into something of a human being. This is a disgusting example of not only negligent, but cruel parents. Now this child is ridiculed and made into a spotlight for something that isn't her fault. She may have eaten it all, but if she wasn't taught restraint, what the hell is she supposed to know? She's seven and having to deal with grown up problems. Her parents should be imprisoned and sterilized.

[Pete]

I say that we take them ALL out back and shoot them. Also take those muppets who are "touched" by the story and kill them too.

People should not be touched by this story, they should be mad. They should be mad at the parents for not only letting their kid become so goddamn fat, but for also continually loading up the trough and shoveling twinkies into her mouth. Worse yet, they videotape it and then wonder what they can do to help the poor kid. Gee, you ever think of buying vegetables or saying "NO, you can't have that third helping of dessert." The kid should be put on a flatbed and taken to child services and put in the care of someone who can competently show they can raise a child. I'd also take her to a few dietitians along the way for good measure.

Ugh, this shit pisses me off to no end.

[Zardoch]

Yeah, as everyone else says, that's definitely some terrible parenting on the parents part. Parents these days are simply becoming too lazy to actually take care of their children. Ironically, after watching shows like "It's me or my dog", I think it's the exact mentality mostly the women have towards their dogs that portrays how they raise children. I mean a child is different than a dog, but if you can't take care of something as simple as an animal, you don't need kids. In this situation, the child needs to be medically taken care of and then taken away from her parents into a family who isn't as pitiful.

Lazy parenting creates fatter and lazier children, as well as spoiled and bratty kids who grow up to be like the kids we see in the news. Our society needs to stop looking at the children and start helping parents become more responsible because otherwise, the U.S. is gonna turn into even worse shit. If the number of obese people increase in the U.S., more food is going to be needed to feed everyone and no ones' doing a damn thing to stop that. I'm definitely overweight, but like hell do I eat more than what I need.

On a similar subject, there are some people who need to stop being so hateful towards obese people because insulting them isn't going to shed pounds, only make someone gain more.

[winterborn86]

I do agree that bad parenting is the result in children who are overweight, these parents should be ashamed of themsleves, their children will be bullied for being overweight, and will most likely suffer serious health problems.
Some people blame TV but its not all bad, my daughter watches alot of kids programmes and alot of them promote healthy eating such as 'lazytown' its a very active, healthy eating programme but its doesnt bore kids, they LOVE it.
also i heard that the wii was ment to be a good way for childen who like video games, to keep active aswell.

[Tifa]

Old news, and welcome to the Internet.

She was 200lbs when she was 5. She's lost weight since but I haven't really seen any photos or anything. Obviously it's the parent's fault though. Srsly, an entire pizza for lunch. I lolled. Though they're fatties too so they probably thought it was fine.

[Chez Daja]

I was two stone overweight when I was about ten, but I shed it by the time I was twelve. The trick is to um. Eat less and eat heathier? I'm perfectly healthy now and I'm glad! I made an effort to lose weight, and I didn't find it the hardest thing in the world, I just... lost it.

This sickens me. Not just the way the child looks, because I won't lie, she's absolutely pitiful. I'm not saying it's her fault entirely, but she should bare SOME of the brunt. You don't HAVE to eat constantly.

I blame the parents in some respect. I mean, if they loved that girl, they would've provided her with a healthy diet from the start. It isn't a matter of "they should've stopped her when they saw she was ****ed", it's a matter of teaching your child what to put in their mouth and to use treats sparingly from the start, rather than letting them pig out until they're fatter than a ****ing hot air balloon.

Having said this, there may be some implication to medical condition. They do exist and they're getting more and more common.

[Govinda]

They're not getting more and more common, Chez. There's just more fat people looking for excuses.

Shit parenting. Seriously, not getting obese, or stopping your kids from getting fat, is not hard. EAT LESS, RUN ABOUT MORE. All you need. Less on the chips, more on the apples. Less on the computer, more on the going outside and climbing trees with other kids. Obesity isn't a ****ing killer. Stupidity is.

[Lilium]

When it's that young, it's the parent's fault. I mean, until the child knows enough about the world or is old enough to have opinions in most topics or become much more independent (mid-teens would the be appropriate age, I think, or somewhere around 13-14), it's up to the parents to help teach the child all about the world, until they can figure it out and learn about it for themselves (with a little help from the parent's, anyway).

I mean, I have a few friends that are on the heavy side, but since the people I know are around 15-16 years old, it was their decision if they became big or not. For a 7 year old, it's the parent's decision for the most part. I mean, who else is giving them the food? Who has taught them about carbs and calories and bad foods? The parents, that's who. This is simply a case of bad parenting.

[Mr Spike]

That is just.... disgusting. Who would let their child, any age, let alone a SEVEN year old, get that size? It's just absolutly horrific.

Sure, obesity is a big problem in countries like in the US, however this surely represents a lack of parenting skills and lacking conviction to make someone change themselves to save their lives. She won't live long. Harsh, if know, but ultimatly true.

Even though there are surgery options to help these people in thie day and age it's awful to watch them struggle. I just wonder if this was self-inflicted or if there is a medical explanation....

[Goose]

That was the funniest thing I saw in 2 months.

TY

[Koda]

No 7 year old child can be blamed for his/her weight. The lack of education, parenting, and control, are the reason so many children are over weight now days. It's true that back in the day, we didn't go to fast food places, because the only one that was around was McDonald's. We had home cooked meals that our mothers or fathers prepared for us. We got our excerise by playing outside and not sitting in front of a computer or video game because they didn't exist at the time. We drank water or kool-aide, rode our bikes, and used our imagination when or if we became bored. Our parents were strict, taught us respect, and disiplined us when we needed it (and it wasn't just a time-out). We ate healthy snacks and got them only when we were allowed. I don't remember there being that many over weight kids when I was a child. And I am old enough to be most on here's parent. People don't parent like they did 20-30-40 years ago. And it's a shame because it's always the children that pay the price. I hope that those of you that don't have children yet, or are just starting out as parents will take all these comments and apply most of them to your parenting. Children learn from their parents, good and bad. You can't blame a child for what the parent has taught them. As for the parents of this 7 year old child, my own thoughts are that the child should be removed from the home until the parents themselves can be taught proper parenting skills and they ALL become healthy. It has really become a sad, sad world that we now live in. I just hope the younger generation can bring the old ways back. The world would be a much better place.

[Walter Sobchak]

Listen to her accent. You see 400 pound women all the time in the South. She is actually a little underweight.

It is overeating and diet. In the South, they eat absolute garbage for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They don't know what fruit is, other than slang for a homosexual.

[InfiniteRealms]

Goose, this is real, not a comedy.

I have to agree with the general opinion here - this is mainly bad parenting, but its only because they have let it escalate to such a scale. It may have been startedout with the girl eating extra 'snack's without her parents knowing - Eating them at school, or while her parents were out of sight.
You can not pin this entirely on the parents, as some people appear to have done. She must have done something greedy to start this off. She could have asked her parents for a few different meals, if eating a junk diet is what made her fat. She has to bear a portion of the blame, and so do her school and community.
Locals should have stepped in at a certain point and offered to help. They could see that this girl was suffering, and they let it happen.

This is just an example of something that is wrong with our WORLD, not a few people.

[diaryofjane]

Hey I do agree with some of the stuff being said. But I'm a bit over weight, and all, but these kids need to get out some. When I was in school i did marching band and winter guard, but half of the three Johnstown guards are over weight. I was thin the i was in a pretty bad accident. Anything lead to over weight.

[Rikkuffx]

I dont know if its bad parenting but parents should be more involved. Like if the parents eat bad stuff the kid is always going to make bad choices because we learn from the world around us. The choices he makes is what is reflected on us by our parents or whoever. I saw some lady buying chocolate chip muffins and all this other bad food and she had her son with her. I couldnt believe she was buying food like that,yea we had that stuff when we were kids but in small quantities not 2 packages of chocolate chip muffins. I just hate to see what our world/parenting is coming to.

[Totakeke777]

Oh, my.

This is very, very bad.


As rikkuffx said, it is a matter of parents being more involved. If parents do not intervene the habits of their children, that will happen. It's sad, actually, to see a young child have to live like that. Maybe the parent of today will help prevent things like that from happening.

[Clint]

There's a simple solution to cure childhood obesity; take away video games and television, and force the children to go outside and play.

[SapphirePR]

I think kids these days are more spoiled than ever, as parents have much less time, patience, and energy to actually care for their children. In my case, my parents were very strict when I was a kid. They don't pay half as much attention to my 9 yr. old brother. Kids are also more successful at getting mom to buy them a 'cool' toy just so they can fit in. It's hard to explain though .

[Alucard]

BAD PARENTING!!!
Anyone who sees it "fit" to allow their child to become that large needs a serious smack in the face! Never would I let that happen to my child or watch someone do it to theirs. Parents making a child that terminaly obese to a point they cant walk should be convicted of child abuse. That kid will know only humiliation, loneliness, and a longing to be a normal child for the rest of his or her life due to the neglect of their parents. No longer can we blame fast-food for the obesity epidemic when parents are shoveling it into their helpless childrens mouths and contributing to an increased risk of wide-spread diseases varieties that are life threatening.
PARENTS NEED TO BE TRAINED on how-to parenting!

[ekimeinna]

Umm I really dont know what to say becides "got any popcorn"

This is shocking, The 400 pound 7 year old

The link title says it all.
To be 7 years old and not being able to walk... is just shocking.
Do you think this is a case of bad parenting? or just children these days with the wide variety of junk out there, just gorging themselves?

well i can say that both of them and i don't really understand what is going on to these kids... so sadly they ended up of believing that llife is not worth it all... it is really sad and people who knows about life should be encourager to them (example are the parents) you see, believe it or not things here in this world are getting crazy...