Given the choice - would you rather have a learning-disabled child or an obese child?...a US survey says...

[Chocol8]

..."The percentages of people willing to make extreme sacrifices were much lower," said psychologist Marlene Schwartz, associate director of the center and lead author in a report in the journal Obesity. "But what struck me was given how big our sample size was, there's still a significant number of people who would give up a lot in order not to be obese."

More than 600 persons, for example, were willing to give up 10 years of their life. And, 342 said they would rather have a learning-disabled child than an obese child.

I know that this is an American poll, but i am shocked....!
abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1990648&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 (sorry not good at links)

[Carmenere]

Rather than give up eating junk????FFS

[zippitippitoes]

sounds a meaningless survey..what's the point in putting two non alternatives together and saying which would you prefer

[Chocol8]

I'm hoping they were given questions, rather than just randomly saying stupid things, but i'm not sure. It reads:

"Of the 4,283 participants, 30 percent (1,285) said they would rather be divorced than obese, 25 percent (1,070) said they would rather be unable to have children, 15 percent (642) said they would rather be severely depressed, and 14 percent (600) said they would rather be alcoholic.

Most drew the line at some sacrifices, but 10 percent (428) said they would rather have an anorexic child than an obese child, and 8 percent (342) said they would rather have a learning-disabled child than an obese child.

!!!!!! !!!!!!

[Davros]

And what about an obese child with SN? Many are overweight often due to weird eating habits and medication side effects......

[Twiglett]

of course

learning disabled is not your fault

whereas obesity is (in general .. unless prone to some unfortunate genetic condition)

[Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads]

yes, but if your child is obese from eating too much it's easier to deal with, and being a fat child doesn't stop you going anywhere or doing anything,

[essbee]

Oh FFS!! Would they really rather their child had disabilities? They are wrong on sooo many accounts. Ridiculous.

[MrsBigD]

and as for rather a child with learning disabilities than one that's obese... I know I'd go for the little 'fatty' and try and help him/her loose the weight and get 'm active!

Have no friends with disabled children but when I see people around it strikes me as very hard at times.

[eidsvold]

what about having a child who has a syndrome where obsession with food and issues that surround that cause obesity along with learning difficulties.