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    Parents Accused of Starving Baby to Fend Off Obesity

    By Sherry Tomfeld | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Sat, Nov 19, 2011
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    A Wisconsin couple has been charged with one felony count of child neglect. Christopher and Mary Sultze, of Appleton, are accused of starving their baby to keep her from becoming obese, according to the AP.

    The baby was born weighing a little over eight pounds. Allegedly the baby gained only five pounds in fourteen months. She was born in July of 2010 and weighed only thirteen pounds in September. One doctor said the baby had no subcutaneous fat, another said she would have to weigh twenty-two pounds more to make her age charts.

    The baby's medical condition was a mystery to physicians when she did not gain weight. They tracked her progress, or lack of it, over months. The doctors ran tests to see if there was a medical problem that was interfering with her weight gain. After the baby was admitted to the hospital, she gained eight ounces in one day. The parents were extremely upset at the suggestion of feeding their baby more calories. The parents wanted to remove their girl from the hospital against doctors advice. The father said he did not want obese or fat kids, and he was afraid the baby would get fat at the hospital.

    The father said he had a blocked artery at the age of 25. It is not clear if reports that large babies have a tendency to become obese, according to USA Today, made any difference in the parents starvation tactics. While no one wants an obese baby, it is not clear that large babies automatically go on to become obese. Doctors are not in total agreement about putting any baby on a strict diet, says MSNBC. Avoiding putting juice in bottles and having regular mealtimes with the whole family seem to indicate sensible ways to reduce undue infant weight gain.

    Christopher Sultze, 35, was released on bond and was ordered to have no contact with the child involved. Mary Sultze, 36, waived a preliminary hearing, so she could continue caring for her other three children. She cannot have contact with the infant she is accused of starving. No report on the condition, age or weight of the remaining children was given.

    The couple could face a year and a half in prison and $25,000 in fines.

     
    • e9601:
      e9601:  •  6 mths ago
      Take the rest of the kids away from those monsters.
      • Infidel
        Infidel 6 mths ago
        I think they're INCREDIBLY STUPID, and apparently very UNEDUCATED, but I'm not at all sure that they're deliberate, sadistic, intentional, willful MONSTERS, are you?
      • ghostiegirl
        ghostiegirl 6 mths ago
        Yeah....I think they ARE monsters.Uneducated monters.It's common sense to feed your child.
      • Infidel
        Infidel 6 mths ago
        I asked if they were DELIBERATE, SADISTIC, INTENTIONAL, WILLFUL monsters, NOT if they were UNEDUCATED, which I have already asserted they are. Nor were they SIMPLY lacking in common sense, as there's no indication that they were like the idiot "breatharians", who believe we don't HAVE to eat food to survive, but can do so by breathing "correctly", or something like that; I think they KNEW that you had to feed your children, but they had a NONSENSE BELIEF that they had to be super strict about fats etc in order to keep their kids from becoming fat and DYING EARLY FROM HEART DISEASE. Of COURSE they're WRONG, and STUPIDLY so, but that does NOT make them DELIBERATE, SADISTIC MONSTERS. That would be like calling a retarded kid a monster who tries to give an infant a bath, and leaves them in the tub and it drowns. Can you get the DIFFERENCE between STUPID AND UNEDUCATED, and MONSTER? There IS a difference!
    • Laura A
      Laura A  •  6 mths ago
      nevermind, just saw it, the mother has her own issues, and her brother/husband looks like a tweaker... that poor child!
    • Rachel
      Rachel  •  Pleasanton, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Just another reason why some people should never have children. They have 3 more, too; we're all in trouble as long as people like these are breeding like that.

      I personally would love any child I had, fat or thin or anything else - anyone who feels otherwise should get their tubes tied/get a vasectomy ASAP, please, before you fill the world up with more stupid, hateful people like yourselves.
      • Infidel
        Infidel 6 mths ago
        Stupid, definitely, but I don't think there is any information that they're hateful, right?
      • Joolsie
        Joolsie 6 mths ago
        Messed up parents make messed up children :(
      • Cassi
        Cassi 6 mths ago
        infidel: Hate is appropriate here. By the fourth child, a family should know the proper growth rate for a thriving child.The photos of this mother show clearly that obesity is not the real issue in this family. Also, in one of the links to this story, it states that the mother has been involved with the courts before due to biting her four year old to "teach her a lesson" . Strike two fro child abuse. Makes me wonder what else has gone on that the children haven't reported
    • fhurwipfnnnnn
      fhurwipfnnnnn  •  Sacramento, United States  •  6 mths ago
      she looks pretty heavy her #$%$ self. and he just looks crazy
      • Maria S.
        Maria S. 6 mths ago
        I totally agree- she was afraid the baby would look like her!!!
      • amommy
        amommy 6 mths ago
        Amen!
    • beverly s
      beverly s  •  Delray Beach, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Oh my goodness. These people should not have any contact with any of their children. They are crazy. Poor baby...
      • bird
        bird 6 mths ago
        its like always, another case of our wonderful legal system failing these innocent children. one of them will end up dead. it makes me sick to say that but hey its the truth.
    • Joe
      Joe  •  Providence, United States  •  6 mths ago
      God help those other three children. Have they been weighed/fed?
    • Laura A
      Laura A  •  6 mths ago
      wow!! my child was the fattest baby and he is so skinny now... starve thm both!! I want to see a picture of these monsters!
    • Infidel
      Infidel  •  6 mths ago
      These "parents" are COMPLETE IDIOTS! Did they have NO UNDERSTANDING AT ALL that an infants BRAIN requires nutrition to grow and develop normally? The fools put their poor kid at SIGNIFICANT risk for being developmentally damaged! However, I'm not sure that they should go to jail, as it doesn't seen that they starved the infant MALICIOUSLY, rather they need a LARGE dose of EDUCATION, focusing upon CHILD DEVELOPMENT and NUTRITION.

      (hope this didn't get posted twice, it didn't show up as far as I could see)
    • Maria S.
      Maria S.  •  San Antonio, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Was she eating what the baby was supposed to eat??? I certainly looks like it to me. She is fat, and he looks psycho, kinda dangerous. Why so worried that the baby would be fat, cause she saw herself in the mirror no doubt.
    • Richard
      Richard  •  Washington, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Just looking at the photos gives you the thought that they don't share even a single brain cell between them. Why does it always seem that the people who are the least fit to be parents always have sizeable familes?
      • Linda Littleton
        Linda Littleton 6 mths ago
        Its because they have no moral sense to only have as many children as you can afford to raise,and send through college. Most of the time, the more kids the more government help they get, and probly don't do much to support themselves,let alone kids. This is just ignorance in action--
      • Infidel
        Infidel 6 mths ago
        Yes, look at the christian movement to take over the world by having LOTS and LOTS of children so they can "raise" an ARMY of idiot religious fanatics, called the "quiverfull" movement.
      • Elaine
        Elaine 6 mths ago
        Infidel--I thought that was the illegal alien plan.
    • James
      James  •  Delhi, United States  •  5 mths ago
      These people should be shot.
    • morgana
      morgana  •  Tampa, United States  •  6 mths ago
      What this article did not state was the mother was already investigated for biting her other child. The parents have shown that they have no clue about the welfare or proper raising of children so why would they release her to her other 3 children when it is clear they are in danger. And maybe Mom should be more worried about her weight than the weight of her baby.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  6 mths ago
      Why is she allowed to be with her other children? Aren't they at risk of being starved too? I feel sorry for that little angel.
    • katherine46
      katherine46  •  6 mths ago
      If a stranger took their baby and did the same thing they would be facing much harsher punishment than this baby's own parents!! Why is the punishment for parents less than if a stranger did this same thing?? Maybe if there were harsher punishments parents would think that doing that to their child was not worth it!! Should not parents who decide to have children be held to a higher standard?? The death penalty is supposed to be a determent if for no other reason than if your dead you can't do it again!!
    • Sarah
      Sarah  •  Herndon, United States  •  5 mths ago
      year and a half in prison, that's it??
    • Maegan
      Maegan  •  San Antonio, United States  •  6 mths ago
      And ironically, momma's a chunky monkey isn't she?
    • Evelyn
      Evelyn  •  Yuma, United States  •  6 mths ago
      In suspected child abuse cases, removal of the targeted child(ren) get removed while the remaining babes are expected to be decently cared for. I have four children, two were over 8 pounds at birth. No obesity. My smallest baby was my first at just over three pounds. He is now 37, over 2 hundred pounds and quite muscular. My youngest came in at six pounds and had to deal with "baby fat" until he was 12. After seeing her picture maybe she should take the remaining children to the playground and chase them a bit.
    • pay back's a bitc*
      pay back's a bitc*  •  Madison, United States  •  6 mths ago
      How could someone do that to their child????? And if they were starving that one child shouldn't they take the rest as i'm sure they were or are starving those kids as well. Those a holes give wi a bad name.
    • kathleen
      kathleen  •  Lafayette, United States  •  6 mths ago
      there are worse things than being fat!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • marco
      marco  •  6 mths ago
      that could effect their brains if not getting the right nourishment.
     Post a comment
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