Comments on: 7-Year-Old Boy Weighs 254 lb.!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:54:20 +0000

I have heard Sumo wrestlers eat one large meal a day. From everything I've read, the key to losing weight is to eat 5 or more small meals a day. No, that doesn't include anything wrapped in cellophane or a foil pouch. High fructose corn syrup could be the culprit, too. And, hey, is there soda in that fridge? Is he drinking water? I feel badly for this kid. Nutrition taught in school is completely wrong. They don't address beverages, or cutting back on bread. My kids, thankfully, are perfect weight. If my kids were at risk for being taken away from me, I would learn EVERYTHING about weight loss and hire a personal trainer. I'd rather sell everything I own than lose my kids.

By: .:DataWhat?:.

.:DataWhat?:. — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:44:45 +0000

"Iâ€™ve got him on three meals a day. A meat and two vegetables, thatâ€™s it." Not to sound like Beavis and/or Butthead, but isn't "Meat and Two Veg" British slang for male genitalia? HehHehHeh...HehHehHeh

By: Peter B

Peter B — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:19:10 +0000

The problem Leah is trying to recall is Prader-Willi Syndrome which it may well be however since there are no easy tests for this it is hard to say.

If it is PWS then three normal sized meals a day will be far too many calories. I've worked with PWS sufferers who've remained extremely fat on diets of less than a thousand calories a day. The combination of a disorder that means the body needs almost no food and yet tells the brain it is constantly starving always seemed very cruel.

I only hope that the cause is something more treatable and that his parents are able/willing to deal with it.

By: Sid

Sid — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:07:53 +0000

#13: I don't think anybody is attacking the child. Rather, we consider it very likely that his mother is full of crap, and is shoveling him with food despite what she says. There are all sorts of crazy (or at least semi-odd) people out there. In gradeschool & highschool, I had one good friend who was *perennially* (all 12 years) the fattest kid in the class by a long shot. This was back when most kids were NOT fat, so "Bob" was mocked constantly (kids are sweet, huh?). Anyhow, for whatever reason, Bob didn't want to be fat and ridiculed, so he actually tried to cut back and control the quality of what he ate. But his mother was intent on making him eat a lot! It got to the point that he asked his friends to lie if his mother asked if he had eaten while he was out with us. We were supposed to say that "we all had pizza". Otherwise, she'd be stuffing him with food as soon as we walked in the door. Nonetheless, ultimately, it up to these parents to raise their kid(s) in whatever (screwed up or not) manner they feel best. It's gonna be tough for Eric, er... Justin to undo this when he is older, but a lot of us didn't have perfect parents. If you start taking fat kids away from their parents, skinny kids are next, and then kids who climb on rocks and kids with chickken pox. Where does it end?

By: Arielle W.

Arielle W. — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:10:40 +0000

they're covering that in the news around here because they want to send him to UNC-Chapel Hill for study.

But that boy has been to 5 doctors and his family has him on a strict diet with food journals and everything.

It would be one thing to take him from the family if there was proof that the family was not doing everything they could to try and help him.

This is sad, but definitely not a reason to take the poor child. I'm sure he gets enough crap from people his own age.

There's no reason for all of you to be insensitive and attack a small child about this.

By: pookey

pookey — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:36:44 +0000

That is just heartbreaking. He looks so sad. Obviously, either the parents are lying or there is some undiagnosed metabolic disorder. I just feel sorry for him and hope he can lose the weight before it kills him.

By: Sid

Sid — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:30:30 +0000

If this is the same story, that was in the press a couple of weeks ago, the mother was a rather "big gal" herself which makes one kind of wonder exactly what her idea of "healthy eating" is. These cases almost always turn out being the kid's diet being horendous. I'm betting if he gets rigorously monitored for a couple weeks, he will eithe rlose a LOT of weight or they will soon figure out what the problem is. PS - deep fried Twinkies are not a vegetable.

By: Malignant Monkey

Malignant Monkey — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:15:06 +0000

Somebody get that boy a blue and yellow poof-ball hat!

By: ted

ted — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:32:42 +0000

How is it possible for the kid to get that big on a proper diet?

Sounds like he may be sneaking snacks.

And the correct spelling is "Holy f~ck".

By: gjd

gjd — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:24:26 +0000

Holy f*ck, it's Cartman.

By: rek

rek — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:44:58 +0000

The correct spelling is 'ridiculous'.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 01:29:41 +0000

Wow, this is 8 week old news!

By: Leah

Leah — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:59:40 +0000

Sounds to me that it's more than likely a medical problem, not a diet/exercise issue. I can't remember what the name of it is now, but there is a rare disease that causes people to rapidly gain weight. Unfortunately, doctors rarely want to believe anyone has it! (But then again, that tends to be the case with many diseases/doctors) I find it very sad that this mother may lose custody of her child when she may not have done anything wrong. That's just screwed up.

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:56:47 +0000

He's like a miniature Don Vito from Viva La Bam....it's scary.

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:36:42 +0000

Wow, he weigh 5 times as much as my nine-year-old.

By: billy

billy — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:27:02 +0000

it's amazing/crazy that the Department of Social Services will assume this is abuse and not a medical condition. i'm sure being deprived of his family will fix that boy up just right.

By: biltmore

biltmore — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:26:51 +0000

Wow, that's just out of control. The parents should be fined or something, this is just rediculous.