On Being Criminally Fat

Inspiration for this post (which also was posted as a comment elsewhere): Obese child deemed victim of neglect.

Obesity = neglect = crime?

Let's bust up a loving family because their only crime is that their child/ren is/are fat.

Question: Why are more people not up in arms about the implications of this?

Genetics (MY Vast-Sweeping Over-simplification):

Face it. Some kids are (either knowingly or unknowingly) genetically prone to getting fat. Yes, skinny parents can have a fat child. Recessive genes anyone? Yes, fatness, just like blue eyes, are recessive, inheritable traits.

The Fat Man's Economics--The Cliff Notes version:

Let's take a look at the economics of it. Some folks who subsist primarily of fatty cuts of meat or carb laden foods because it's inexpensive, and they cannot afford healthier foods. (Freshman 15... Top Ramen... anyone?

I know from first hand experience what "government subsidized foods" are like. Gubm'nt cheese anyone? [ED: Oh and by the by, "da cheeze" is greasy, fatty and binding, and decidedly NOT health conscious!]

It's not a stretch to suggest that the same parents who could not afford leaner cuts of meat, or scads of fresh fruits or veggies, cannot afford gastric bypass surgeries for their kids. Hell, this article about a little boy who died because of a toothache/abcess and his family couldn't afford proper medical care is another indication of what's wrong with our society.

Add to the genetics, the economics and the environmental, you've got a health crisis on your hands.

Obesity---------->= crime?

As laughable or inconceivable as it may seem, Child Protective Services taking away children who are obese due to some perceived notion of neglect (let's face it, children can be willfull as all get out, despite the very best intentions of their parents), I don't like the message it's sending.

What about our Fourth Amendment to Privacy in our homes?

Ever see this "surveillance campaign" over at ACLU, where it uses the premise of ordering a pizza? It's only a matter of time before obese people are taxed or otherwise penalized* for their girth, and I am not implying merely higher medical insurance premiums, either.

*See Eugenics

The Fat Man's Future: MY Hypothesis

How is governmental interference and intervention on behalf of obese children not Eugenics? From that link on Wiki:

[...]Historically, eugenics has been used as a justification for coercive state-sponsored discrimination and human rights violations, such as forced sterilization of persons with genetic defects, the killing of the institutionalized and, in some cases, genocide of races perceived as inferior[...]

NOW! WITH MORE HYPERBOLE!:

What is next? Rounding up all the fatties, Stepfordizing the rest, and relaunch "New! And Improved! Soylent Green! NOW WITH HALF THE CARBS!