It is considered that parents with children who are obese should be penalized for making their children overweight. It is important that parents are held responsible for their children’s health; however, excessive weight gain can be caused by reasons such as hormonal disorders that are not in the control of the parents. Moreover, kids tend to eat unhealthy junk food when they are at school. So, I disagree that parents with fat children should be punished.
Parents cannot be blamed for their kids’ hormonal changes and disorders. Children can gain excessive and unnecessary weight due to hormonal disorders such as hypothyroidism and PCOS. This can happen even when the child’s eating habits are healthy and kept under control. We can notice that people with thyroid gland malfunctions are mostly overweight. It has also been proven by multiple researches that PCOS causes rapid weight gain in a very short period of time.
Also, parents cannot monitor their children’s food intake during school hours. Children love to eat junk food with lots of oil, butter, cheese, and other similar foods with high calorie content. Such foods are easily available around school areas and can drastically increase weight when eaten regularly. For instance, a recent survey conducted on children from Bangalore showed that about 37% of junk food is consumed by school-going children during their break time.
Hence, in my opinion, it is not right to punish parents for their children’s obesity, as it can be caused by situations that are totally not in control of parents.