Now that summer time is here, you may see kids eating lots of ice cream or kids at the swimming pool.
It’s also a time for kids to sit at home and snack up on junk food.
That's why a doctor and an attorney with Harvard, are proposing that some parents lose custody of their own kids for being too overweight.
"Just because somebody is obese that doesn’t mean they ate too much, there could be a medical reason why, there are other things that we should be focusing on other than taking kids away," said local parent Heather Silva.
But Dr. Joseph McCormick with the UTHSC School of Public Health at the University of Texas at Brownsville believes it could save a child's life.
He said the new proposal is only for kids that are extremely obese, and only after counseling and assistants fails.
It would only serve as a last resort.
"These children are at big risk for developing type two diabetes and having a very short life that is filled with a lot of disabilities" said Dr. McCormick.
According to Dr. McCormick, children here in the valley are on a path to destruction.
In fact, he said 50 percent of young kids in the valley are obese or overweight.
"If we're bringing a group of children along who have this level of obesity, we have a completely unaffordable situation, not only can the hospitals and clinics not afford it, but there just isn’t any way to do it," McCormick said.
In fact the Rio Grande Valley spends over a billion dollars a year just on obesity and diabetes.
It’s things like television, computers and fast-food that Dr. Mccormmick said over the years has contributed to the problem.
"You go to McDonnell and get super sized fry and a big hamburger and a big 32 oz drink, you’ve just consumed over a thousand calories, most of us should only be consuming two thousand at max per day” said Dr. McCormick.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT