I read an article on BBC news website discussing the idea that overfeeding children is a form of abuse.  I would have to say that I agree 100%.  There are many reasons for this:

Children do not know for themselves what is good to eat and how to eat sensibly unless they are taught by their parents.  A child being fed badly sets them up for a difficult life.  We have a set number of fat cells in our bodies, these cells do not dissapear when a person looses weight, they merely empty.  The more fat cells a person has, the easier it is for them to put weight on as the body has somewhere to store the extra fat.

What many people do not know is that if we overeat, our bodies create MORE fat cells to store the extra fat if the current cells are all full.  These news cells will not go away and that means said person is prone to putting weight on for the rest of their life!

Obviously being overweight has many effects both mentally and physically.  Children get teased, are more prone to high blood pressure, heart problems, athsma and loads of other things..... now tell me its not abuse then!

I think it is very unfair on the child to become an adult with so many problems just because their parents didn't control their diet correctly.