<human>: Obviously I'm not the first person to suggest something like this, if you do a basic search online you'll find multitudes of articles exploring this very idea, which raises the question as to what the Reddit community thinks. Are parents who allow their children to eat poorly and become obese abusing their children? Should these parents be punished under law for what they are doing? Should these parents lose their children for what they are doing to them? I'm curious to your opinions. I've been looking through various articles and blogs discussing the issue and I found this rather interesting.

"According to the American Obesity Association, obesity among children and teens is beginning to reach epidemic levels, as some 30% of children and teens are overweight and 15% are obese.   The frightening facts about child obesity is that it most often is not something that children 'grow out of', as those children who are overweight, with at least one overweight parent, are 80% more likely to be overweight as adults according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Childhood obesity affects children on a multitude of levels, both emotionally and physically.  Children who are obese are often plagued low self-esteem and a poor self-image, they are also at a greater risk for asthma, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and bone and cartilage damage.  However while these risks are of grave concern in the overall welfare of the child, are they the result of abuse or neglect?"

So what's your opinion on the matter?

Can you give me a shortened version of the text?
<bot>: The quote takes up a lot of space making for a big block of text, you don't have to read it just give your opinion on the topic. What do you think needs to be done?