by Bob Schmidt

Created on: March 19, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

A child weighing 200 pounds at the age of 8 is not far from being a candidate for a carnival side show. Something should be done about it, but that brings up an interesting debate; the rights of the state as opposed to individual rights.

In the health interests of the child, someone should assume the parenting and nurturing of the young man. However, the privacy rights of a family probably supersede any agencies ability to do so. It is a shame, but our permissive society shares some responsibility in this matter.

Is this mother actually sane? Have no family members noticed the size of this child? Have the friends and neighbors of this family ignored an obvious problem? The answers to these questions demonstrate why everyone shares some blame in this situation. Apparently, nobody gives a damn, and that is really too bad.

This child will in likely have many health problems associated with obesity in his lifetime because no one was willing to become involved with the situation. Shame on his family, his neighbors, and the rest of us for not noticing anything out of order until now!

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