THE 550 POUND TEENAGER

A mother of a 550 pound teenager was recently arrested and charged with parental neglect- this is a felony in the state of South Carolina where she lives-anyone who read this story-without knowing the facts might conclude that she is entirely responsible for her son's life-threatening obesity-but even a cursory look at the facts tells another story- it turns out the mother is a single parent who works two shifts a day-which means she is hardly at home at all during the week- except to rest-and most of saturday too-she obviously has very little money- and cannot afford to put her child in treatment-she was accused of failing to act upon offers of free treatment for her child- this is simply not true-in one case of a so-called scholarship for weight reduction treatment-the boy was turned away-because he was too fat-above and beyond what the facility believed they could successfully treat-nonetheless the mother was blamed for this-as if she had not tried at all to find some help for her son-it may be that the state authorities were looking to publicize the arrest to gain attention for the childhood obesity problem in the US-that is the best case scenario-but as the facts come out there will properly be a sense of compassion and sympathy for both the boy and his mother-and maybe-if he does get the help he needs- his case can be an inspiration to others to address this very serious issue in our country.