Would you hire a morbidly obese Nanny?

[whompingwillo]

I would like to hire someone we’ve met for my 9 month old baby. She’s fab, great with kids, lovely, I have no concerns.

I would estimate her BMI is 50-60 and my husband noticed that it is a struggle for her to get up and down off the floor and he is worried that if baby was in danger she may struggle.

So what would you do? Do you think that weight could impact a job like this? I’m sure people of this weight have their own children and are safe to look after them?

YABU - morbid obesity could impact her ability to do this job

YANBU - she’ll be fine

No one is morbidly obese because of medications or other issues. This is an eating problem, an addiction. You would have to eat a ton of food and have really unhealthy habits to become morbidly obese.

You may well be - you all know nothing about this woman and you're all on here piling judgement on her

You're either delusional or taking the piss. Not sure which is better, tbh.

You are making an awful lot of assumptions. My daughter learnt her disordered style of eating from slender friends with major issues with food. I don't think you can make sound judgments about anyone's relationship to food by appearance. You literally do not know what conditions they may have or what happens behind closed doors.

Yes exactly!

And so what if they are? Doesn't mean they deserve all this nastiness.

MN is just full of fat-phobic bullies.

Can I just say to @MzHz and @UbiquitousObjects congrats on losing the weight, we all know it’s bloody hard work to do so 👏

They are not being nasty they are saying whether they think she would be suitable to be in the role of a nanny to a young baby/toddler. Most people agree she wouldn't be as its very unlikely she would be able to run after them or take them for long walks. Now I'm sure most parents would put their children's health and safety over hurting someone's feelings.

This seems like a very goady thread. So many threads recently all based on weight shaming, the large salad brigade out in full force on their high horses. Don’t people have anything better to do? Tragic.

How so?

OP makes it clear that the potential nanny's ability to do her job is impacted by her weight though. She said she was struggling to get off the floor.

Why should OP hire someone even if they are 'tackling' their weight? She has to judge whether this woman is fit enough for the role now and clearly she's not. Read the post again - OP said the nanny is lovely in every way, but her morbid obesity (we're not just talking 'overweight') is a problem.

I also wonder if it is a goady thread.

😱 bit much

I would not- obesity is an eating disorder - I would not hire someone with an obvious mental health illness to look after my child

Also the limited physical capability would be unacceptable- if you child needs carrying could she do it? Could she bend down easily to help or sprint across the room?

Also think the wear and tear on your furniture

People are being nasty.

This woman has been called disgusting, gluttonous, lazy - people have said she's at risk of a heart attack at work, and have said she'd be a bad influence on OP's child because of her size and "poor diet".

Dressing something up as concern doesn't make it any kinder.

You are the definition of fat phobic.

Do you also think homophobia means people are scared of gay people?

No of course not, she won't be able to keep up with your DC once they start walking and running.

Obesity is not a mental health condition.

We're talking morbidly obese, not just overweight. That takes a heck of a lot of sustained eating to even maintain.

The poster is correct - you don't get that from medication or conditions. You become morbidly obese because you have an addiction - which needs to be treated with the same respect, seriousness and compassion as any other addiction.

Absolutely not

You can learn bad habits from anyone. I would not hire someone who is extremely thin either (I am talking about skin and bones and not just thin). The reason why is also for the safety of the child. If someone is suffering from an eating disorder, they can faint or not be strong enough to carry a baby, not have enough energy to keep up. It is not a desk job, it is a job that requires someone fit enough to look after a baby/child. Therefore, I would expect the person to be in decent shape to be able to keep up (not be out of breath if they walk up stairs or have to run after a child). If they are not in good health, I would not risk it for watching a child. It is different to hire someone like this to do a desk job or cleaning the house etc. Safety of the child is the main point. But also habits too.

Some of these comments are just being unkind now.