When is a child being over/underweight no longer the parents fault?

Question

Just thought this would be an interesting topic and thought it'd be interesting to see what you guy's think on this.

Accepted Answer

Weight is far to complex to chalk up to being “the parents fault” in the majority of cases. It doesn’t dig deep enough into the intricacies of how the human body operates, nor the deeper systemic issues. That said parents do have a legal obligation to provide adequate food until the child is 18.

Answer

According to standard height and weight charts I’ve always been underweight 🤷🏼‍♀️ is it my parents fault I was active and had a high metabolism growing up? No! My ribs and hip bones have always been easily seen no matter how much food I ate, which was equivalent to a 22 year old line backer. Genetics plays a role in how our bodies function and mature, as well as loose, maintain, and gain weight. Is it my fault I got a bunch of rare genes from my family that almost nobody else in my family has? No, that’s just how life works. No if a child under 18 is obviously malnourished, weak, brittle bones or if they are severely obese with life threading health problems due to the weight then someone needs to find out what is going on and what can be done to help the child and family. There’s no point in pointing fingers of who was wrong and who was right

Answer

When the child starts buying its own food. The parent does need to teach the child proper eating habits.

Answer

When the child can buy their own food.

Answer

There's not a set age and sometimes there is no one at fault. There are a lot of factors to consider that aren't anyone's business except that of the parent/guardian, child, and doctor.

Answer

it starts young. if you don't teach your kid early on about having healthier habits be it food, or playing outside then a lazy outcome will follow. if cases where the problem is a health thing then that is a diffrent story. my parents only made it a thing were Sunday night's we would go out for junk food. every other day was a home cooked meal. plus we would all go to a trail in our town to walk on that led to a cool playground big enough for even my parents to play on lol.

Answer

It depends. If they're not giving their child access to food or if they're only supply junk food - it continue to be "their fault" up until age 18. If they are exhibiting unhealthy food behaviors then you might also contribute the problem to them, even if the child is a teenager.

Answer

I agree with another comment that says “until the child starts buying their own food.” 
If the child does not have a medical issue for being overweight or underweight, or if they don’t just have a really high metabolism, there are no excuses on why they are obese at a young age. 
Most children are not willingly going to make healthy eating choices. Like I know when i was a kid, I definitely would have eaten cookies, chips and ice cream every single day and not felt bad about it at all. I think that parents who let their children have bad eating habits like that simply out of pure laziness, and knowing the negative health consequences that could come from that, are awful. Some people will disagree, but seriously if your kid doesn’t have a medical reason as to why they are overweight or underweight, please go to your doctor and ask for advice on what can be done. Or just google it.

Answer

When they are able to understand what they're doing and how it will effect them, that's when they're old enough to do something about it. If it's a health issue etc. that's a whole different case.

Answer

Putting things such as medical conditions/eating disorders aside, assuming the child is actually in danger because of their weight, I’d say it’s the fault of the family up until the child is around 14-16. I say this because at that age the child can start being more independent and may be able to get a job not buy their own food, etc, but even then it could be the parents fault if they’ve never known anything but junk food/not enough food etc.

When is a child being over/underweight no longer the parents fault?

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