A provocative discussion in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that parents of extremely obese children should lose custody for not managing their kids' weight. Experts suggest in serious cases, the government should step in and put children temporarily in foster care.
It begs the question, if a child is obese, does that necessarily follow that the parent is abusive? Obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital Boston, Dr. David Ludwig thinks so. He believes the state must act "in children's best interest", even if that means removing them from their families.
While there is no doubt that parents of obese children need educating when it comes to food choices, isn't state intervention a little over the top? After all, aren't parents only one piece of the complex obesity puzzle?
"Obese children are victims of advertising, marketing, peer pressure and bullying — things a parent can't control," claims University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan.
Approximately 2 million U.S. children are deemed extremely obese, some of whom have conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties and liver problems that, according to Ludwig, "could kill them by age 30". These are the kids said to benefit from temporary protective custody.
Ludwig investigated the issue after treating a 90-pound 3-year-old girl several years ago. Her parents were disabled and poor. At age 12, she weighed 400 pounds and had developed diabetes, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.
"Out of medical concern, the state placed this girl in foster care, where she simply received three balanced meals a day and a snack or two and moderate physical activity," said Ludwig.
A year later she lost 130 pounds, her diabetes and apnea disappeared, and she remains in foster care.
No one likes to be controlled by Big Brother, but in light of the crisis sweeping across North America and Britain, is state intervention the wake-up call parents of obese kids deserve?
Printer-friendly version