Gordon Ramsay: 'Parents of obese children should be fined'

[Demi]

The Mail
London, UK
4 July, 2007



Gordon Ramsay: 'Parents of obese children should be fined'

Gordon Ramsay has lashed out at parents of obese children, calling for them to be taken to court and fined.

The 40-year-old father of four believes the threat of legal action is the only way to get through to parents who let their children over-eat.

The Michelin-starred chef said: "If kids become obese and out of control, then seriously fine the parents and threaten them with a court appearance because they often don't realise what they are doing.

"If you're going to be a healthy nation then you've got to discipline the parents for having no control."

Describing the psychological suffering endured by overweight children he said: "As a nation, we've got to improve; we've got to become seriously focused on keeping it together.

"You don't want to see fat children at the age of nine being humiliated at school because they can't play rugby or they can't do the cross country run or they're feeling bad because their clothes don't fit them.

"That gives that individual an issue they'll have for the rest of their lives. It's heartbreaking and it's the parents, not the children, who are at fault."

Ramsay, whose comments appear in an interview with Men's Health magazine, admitted he was speaking from personal experience and described how his eight-year-old daughter Megan has been teased about her weight at school.

"Megan is being bullied by a girl at school at the moment because someone called her fat," he said. "She's not fat at all, she just enjoys food. But now she's got a complex about her body as an eight-year-old, which is wrong."

Ramsay also advocated using shock tactics to teach children about the dangers of junk food. "That documentary, Super Size Me, scares the hell out of my children. And you have to scare them like that to make them understand it's not good for you," he said.

Meanwhile, in the latest series of Ramsay's F Word a beauty journalist has been chosen to try to take on the mantle of legendary TV cook Fanny Cradock.

Ravinder Bhogul beat more than 2,000 rivals to win Ramsay's hunt for a new female cook.

The 28-year-old, who lives in Erith in Kent, said her parents had been nervous about letting her appear with the foul-mouthed chef.

She said: "My parents are very Indian and very traditional. My dad didn't want him to use swear words against me."

But she said Ramsay turned out to be "a lamb in wolf's clothing".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=466095&in_page_id=1770

[keywstdame]

Gordon Ramsey is a F^*&%ing idiot! And I say that in the language I'm sure he'll understand!

[MandalayVA]

Ramsay, whose comments appear in an interview with Men's Health magazine, admitted he was speaking from personal experience and described how his eight-year-old daughter Megan has been teased about her weight at school.

"Megan is being bullied by a girl at school at the moment because someone called her fat," he said. "She's not fat at all, she just enjoys food. But now she's got a complex about her body as an eight-year-old, which is wrong."


Wonder how many parents say that about their kids. Kind of like "He's not fat, he's big-boned."

But fining? Not the answer. Ramsay is given to bold statements, so I'd take this with a large grain of salt.

[pennink]

okay, then also charge and fine the food manufacturers and fast food restaurants for selling these 'contraband substances'...

Good lord... things aren't that simple, pal.

[MorganMac]

Geezo.. and here I actually kinda liked the guy..

But reading through it, he justifies his daughter's weight by saying "she just loves food..." wtf?

Someone fine him for being such a wanker. lol

[pennink]

Geezo.. and here I actually kinda liked the guy..

But reading through it, he justifies his daughter's weight by saying "she just loves food..." wtf?

Someone fine him for being such a wanker. lol

so, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander... he's of course WAY above those other parents...

geesh...

and a michelin chef. You'd think he'd KNOW how to feed his kid so she wouldn't have had to 'suffer' that....

You know... I know it hurts to be called names in school... but man, there are other kids, kids with zits, glasses, greasy hair, socially inept, geeky, lanky, too skinny, awkward, not bright... they get picked on too.
In fact, I think being picked on at school helped me deal with a lot of crap in my life. I'm not a victim. I'm a fighter.

Sure, help your kids get by as much as you can and don't dress them silly or feed them pounds of crap each day... and don't fluff off any teasing, but it's not the end of the world. People are so sensitive to everything these days...
And here's this dude who makes a living belittling people!!!! I know what he can stuff next...

[Lisa N]

"You don't want to see fat children at the age of nine being humiliated at school because they can't play rugby or they can't do the cross country run or they're feeling bad because their clothes don't fit them.

Kids tend to mirror the attitudes and opinions of the adults around them. If the adults around them are all going on about how terrible and wrong it is to be overweight, how realistic is it to expect the kids that witness this to refrain from applying that standard to other kids and NOT tease them about it?

[diemde]

Oh, don't even get me started. And it's not even about being able to play rugby or feeling bad about their clothes. Just shows you were his perspective is...

[Rachel1]

Another example of "blame the victim" mentality. It's the kids who bully that need behavioural change. Bullies, of whatever age, will always find a reason. If it's not overweight, it'll be something else. It's the bullies, and parents of bullies, that need to change their attitudes and behaviour.

Rachel

[LC_Dave]

Gordon Ramsey is a F^*&%ing idiot! And I say that in the language I'm sure he'll understand!

I don't think it can be said any better.

The man is a horrible human being.

Sure it's a novelty to see him on Reality TV telling Restauarant customers to 'F___ Off' but imagien dealing with this guy in real life?

What did his parents do when they raised him to be like that? Maybe they should be fined???

[PhoenixEav]

No, parents should be hit with a sack of bricks for being stupid and feeding the things bread and mac n' cheese asap, then putting them on "low fat balanced" diets... THAT'S the problem here, parents set the kids up for obesity/diabetes/heart disease by what they feed the kid when it's young... I'm the perfect example :hyper: INSULIN RESISTANCE SUFFERING TEENAGER!!! WHOOT!!!

[kebaldwin]

I think that feeding crap to the kids - like most parents and schools do - is child abuse - we would have to first start with the "health experts" and government officals that advise parents to do this.

[KvonM]

"Megan is being bullied by a girl at school at the moment because someone called her fat," he said. "She's not fat at all, she just enjoys food. But now she's got a complex about her body as an eight-year-old, which is wrong." But reading through it, he justifies his daughter's weight by saying "she just loves food..." wtf?

i think you guys might be missing something here... yes gordon ramsay is a rude, harsh, in-your-face person who loudly speaks his mind. i'd chalk that up to his profession. the show "hell's kitchen" shows him at his worst, especially when dealing with ineptitude, but if you watch his assistant chefs, especially scott liebfreid (and i'm probably spelling his name wrong), they jump and do what he needs done exactly the way he needs it done to keep the kitchen running. do i respect him for what he accomplishes? hell yes... would i want to work for him? hell NO.

anyway... i couldn't find anything in the way of pictures of his daughter, so i can't comment on what her size really is. but i do remember one thing growing up... one of my cousins at age 4 was tall and slender. around 8 or 9, she had stopped growing and had become somewhat chubby. i remember her being constantly hungry and her mother saying "you don't need to eat that." you could hear the disgust in my aunt's voice, but then again i was used to hearing that from my own mother. then my cousin hit another growth spurt and guess what... she is now 5'9" or 5'10" and slender again.

some bully called her fat because it's an easy insult to sling and is guaranteed to hurt, especially in our society. i think gordon's daughter enjoys food because her parents have taught her to enjoy food. i'd be royally pissed if my dad was an accomplished chef but all i got to eat was boring food. so while she might be chubby, i don't think he's being hypocritical. i think he's seeing that his daughter is still young, hasn't hit puberty yet, and he realizes she's nowhere NEAR the category of obesity we see running rampant in schools today.

should parents be fined? i'm not sure about that, but i do think they should be held responsible and accountable.

[MandalayVA]

i think you guys might be missing something here... yes gordon ramsay is a rude, harsh, in-your-face person who loudly speaks his mind. i'd chalk that up to his profession. the show "hell's kitchen" shows him at his worst, especially when dealing with ineptitude, but if you watch his assistant chefs, especially scott liebfreid (and i'm probably spelling his name wrong), they jump and do what he needs done exactly the way he needs it done to keep the kitchen running. do i respect him for what he accomplishes? hell yes... would i want to work for him? hell NO.

If you do a couple of years with Gordon Ramsay, you can pretty much write your ticket in the restaurant world. One of my cousins is an executive chef at a resort in the Bahamas, and he worked for Ramsay at his first restaurant in London for two years. When he gave his resume to the place where he works now, the moment they saw he worked for Ramsay they hired him. When "Hell's Kitchen" got started all of us were like "God, poor cousin!" My cousin, however, said that he'd worked for chefs that made Ramsay look like Barney behaviorwise. He said he'd learned more with Ramsay than he learned ANYWHERE--and that includes Cordon Bleu. If you want to go places in the restaurant world you WANT to work for Ramsay.

[KvonM]

My cousin, however, said that he'd worked for chefs that made Ramsay look like Barney behaviorwise. He said he'd learned more with Ramsay than he learned ANYWHERE--and that includes Cordon Bleu.
you know, and i'm purely going off the vibe i get from watching him, i think the difference there is that ramsay may scream and bitch and yell, but he does it purely for the sake of turning out absolute perfection each and every time. there's method behind his madness, not just an over-inflated ego and a desperate need to be a diva. he wants those under him to be able to learn and grow, not just be his kitchen drones. i've watched him bark out compliments in the same tone of voice as when he disciplines, but at least he DOES give credit where it's due.

the reason i wouldn't want to work for him is the same reason i wouldn't be able to handle the military. i'm a good cook, and with the right training in techniques i could be chef-worthy. i just know that i don't deal with that kind of instructor very well.

[LC_Dave]

You know Gordon Ramsey was a star on tv before Hell's Kitchen! ;)

I liked his earlier shows where he used to visit restaurants and try to improve them. He was a lot less abusive.

[BBQman]

There is a picture of his daughter in that article, and she does not look fat at all.

[moggsy]

You know Gordon Ramsey was a star on tv before Hell's Kitchen! ;)

I liked his earlier shows where he used to visit restaurants and try to improve them. He was a lot less abusive.

Yeah, I've been a fan of his for a few years. He really showed a lot of compassion with "Kitchen Nightmares" show (it is shown here in the States on BBCA). I was really excited when "Hell's Kitchen" was announced, but he seems a lot meaner on the US show. Last week when he started calling the women's team sexist names and sounding like an insane banshee (somehow the US show has become a self-parody of Ramsey's high strung personality over the seasons) I decided he was just a huge jerk. I decided to stop watching the show.

This article just cements it.

[ElleH]

I think that Ramsay's mouth is mostly an act for the TV. I read an interview with his wife, and she said he does NOT speak that way at home.