Puerto Rico considers bill to monitor, fine parents of obese kids

“The Puerto Rican government is proposing a new law that would label the parents of obese kids as ‘child abusers.’ …Senator Gilbert Rodriguez Valle introduced the bill that would establish a process of identifying obese children in school … If the social workers [sent to investigate] see no improvements after a year, the parents could be fined up to $800.” [The Guardian via Lenore Skenazy and Paul Best, from whom the quoted passage is excerpted]

2 Comments

  • The government is of course right to do this and has the capability to efficiently solve this problem.

    In completely unrelated news, 1/3 of Pueto Ricans is on food stamps.

    http://cnsnews.com/news/article/13-population-puerto-rico-gets-food-stamps-2-billion-2012

  • Of course it’s a Government overreach, but Obesity is a terrible problem in the U.S. and one of our most costly ones.

    There should be some direct economic disincentive to being fat.

    I’d propose making your Federal Income Tax rate equal to your BMI or body fat percentage, whichever is lower. (20% Federal Income Tax for me!)