Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Puerto Rican lawmakers are considering a controversial new bill that would fine parents of obese children $800 for failing to keep their youngsters fit and healthy.
The bill was first introduced to the territory’s Senate on Monday and is scheduled to be debated in a public hearing on Friday, according to the Washington Post. Senator Gilberto Rodriquez, the bill’s sponsor, insists that parents must be held accountable for the childhood obesity epidemic.
The proposed law would identify school-age students who are obese, recommend that the take part in diet and exercise programs in order to lose weight, and levy fines against any parent that fails to follow the recommendations.
Once children are flagged by teachers or school officials, their parents would work be referred to officials within the Puerto Rico health department in order to determine the cause of the obesity and devise an individualized plan to help that child lose weight. Some will be asked to cut caloric intake while others may be instructed to spend more time exercising outdoors.
There would also be monthly follow-up appointments, as well as a check-up to gauge the progress of the child after a six-month period. During this check-up, doctors will determine if any progress has been made. If the child has not lost weight, or if the parents did not follow instructions, they would be referred to children’s services and could be fined up to $800.
Senator Jose Luis Dalmau, who supports the bill, told the newspaper that he believed that it was “necessary” to hold parents accountable for their children’s poor health. However, many experts are vehemently opposed to the bill.
Milly García, a nutritionist who is against the proposal, told local media that obesity is “not abuse. It’s a disease,” and that the new legislation would allow the government “into a private area” where it “does not belong.” Ricardo Fontanet, president of the local American Academy of Pediatrics chapter, added that the bill was “not the right way to address this problem.”
Rebecca Puhl, deputy director of the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, told ABC News that the proposal was “very unfair and inappropriately penalizes and stigmatizes parents. Childhood obesity is a highly complex issue, and while the home environment is important to address, much broader societal changes are required to effectively address obesity.”
Puhl explained that policies that penalize parents for their children’s obesity are less helpful than those that support them. Improving access to opportunities for physical activity or providing some type of incentive for buying healthier food has already proven to be effective in areas such as Philadelphia.
The fines “drastically oversimplify obesity and are more likely to be harmful than incur any benefit,” she noted. Nikhil Dhurandhar, who chairs the department of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University, wondered, “What’s next? Will they be fining parents of children suffering from other diseases? Maybe diabetes? Maybe cancer? Maybe something else?”
According to the Washington Post, Puerto Rico had a higher rate of adult obesity that all but 12 US states as of 2013. Statistics for childhood obesity were even worse, as nearly 30 percent of youngsters living in the territory were obese compared to 18 percent in the mainland US.
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