At what point does overfeeding a child constitute medical neglect? In Britain, childhood obesity could result in removal from the home.
Social workers are placing obese children on the child protection register alongside victims thought to be at risk of sexual or physical abuse.In extreme cases children have been placed in foster care because their parents have contributed to the health problems of their offspring by failing to respond to medical advice. The Sunday Times
Two brothers were even convicted of causing unnecessary suffering for obesity in a dog.
While Britain is certainly “ahead” of us in this regard, their concern for childhood obesity certainly is not unique to our European friends. In a study commissioned by the US Department of Health and Human Services (also what Child Protective Services falls under), the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies tells us,
“We recognize that several of our recommendations challenge entrenched aspects of American life and business, but if we are not willing to make some fundamental shifts in our attitudes and actions, obesity’s toll on our nation’s health and well-being will only worsen.” Medical News Today
How many of our fundamental attitudes are we willing to shift in order to combat overeating and slothfulness among children? Exactly how much power are we going to give to the Federal Trade Commission and external review boards (all outside voter control) to regulate the marketing and distribution of foods deemed unhealthy? Should the school system be monitoring student weight on an annual basis? How much interference from the state and local agencies are we willing to tolerate in private homes to monitor the eating and exercise habits of our citizens?
And when will we decide that noncompliance equals medical neglect, thus turning cases over to child protective services?
I agree that obesity is a problem. But I can’t help but think this approach falls under the plethora of activities our central government is engaged in which perhaps is done in the name of the “common good” but is another step toward the “end” that President Pierce foretold.
hat tip: Joanne Jacobs
Related Tags: health, obesity, childhood obesity, government, CPS, HHS
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I am not surprised to see this coming. Teachers, doctors, etc. are all ready required to report if someone is too skinny.
I think before they take children to foster care (where often the effects are much more detrimental than simply being overweight, and the trauma of being taken from loving parents can actually cause weight gain), our government should do all they can to combat it. My town doesn’t have any sidewalks. The only park for kids to play on is 5 miles away. They built the school 4 miles outside of town, so none of the children walk to school! Their gym teacher is overweight herself. They serve chocolate milk and popsicles at lunch (100% fruit juice does not make it a great snack every. single. day!)
WIC (government program for milk etc. for poor families) has a very specific list of foods you are allowed. You are not allowed part skim or low fat cheese - only full fat. You are not allowed to get Omega 3 eggs, only plain eggs. You are allowed to get canned tuna in oil.
But should they go by weight alone? Or perhaps some sort of bloodwork - if a child’s triglycerides are this high, they go to foster care? Do you need a search warrant for the blood sample? What if they don’t lose weight at the foster home? What if they gain weight? Should they go back to their birth parents or to another foster home? Is the government going to sponsor cooking classes, as they do parenting classes and therapy for abused children? (I think that might actually be a good idea!) What about children with real medical needs - how many people are going to have to be informed of a child’s private medical history in order for the parents to avoid being reported? My cousin has a very rare metabolic disorder. Some of her medications caused her to be very obese; she also does not have good muscle tone at all. On the outside, she looks like one of those “fat, lazy” kids - but she’s not. So, would her parent’s have to have a special license to allow her those medications? Inform every teacher, coach, Brownie leader, etc. so that “the man” doesn’t step in?
Amazing to live in America, and be more afraid of what the government would DO to my kids than I am about the government PROTECTING my kids.
But then again, Social Services has already paid me a visit - because I opted to not have my children fully vaccinated!
Mama Says
I do not mind local communities doing things to promote physical fitness. I would actually accept a lot of things from Lancaster County that I wouldn’t accept from the state of NE, and would accept more from the state of NE than I would from the feds.
My community is my community’s responsibility. We can collect money to put up a little playground and adopt regulations on what can be served in school cafeterias. It is a local issue. But it isn’t the concern of the Federal Trade Commission what is being served in schools. Pretty soon, our schools will be victim to whatever the most powerful food lobby is, if we go that route.
And they will be a trans-fat zone, or whatever the last diet fad is (well, they’d probably be at least six months behind on that, even!).
Besides, recent research implies that obesity alone is not the main issue. There are a lot of skinny people at risk for the same problems associated with being overweight because they do not exercise. Why bring in the full power of the state for only the most visible offenders?
I see both sides of this issue. I am a big advocate of keeping the government out of my business….but on the other hand I think that the government has a responsibility to protect children and I know from personal experience that morbid obesity in children is a symptom of something very wrong in the house. I have personally seen my morbidly obese relative force her kids to eat when they are not hungry. When a 14 year old girl weighs 250 lbs something is very wrong. That is child abuse and there needs to be some sort of legal intervention. It is a fact that morbid obesity in childhood leads to major health problems.
I understand what you are saying, but I would hope that more goes into the decision to remove a child from the home than simply being overweight. I have also read of parents seeking medical advice from a number of experts, seeking help for obese children and finding none. There are sometimes more issues than simply overfeeding.
Like anything, just because it is an indicator does not mean that everyone with an obese parent is necessarily abusing their children.
I see what you are saying. There may be glandular or metabolic diseases that sometimes cause obesity. But lets face it, most fat people are fat because they take in way more calories than they can burn. In this case, my relative is an overbearing, manipulative individual that is emotionally abusive to her children and physically abusive to her husband in front of the kids.
Lots of people in my family are overweight and really in every case there are mental and emotional issues that either precede or go along with the obesity problem.
Overfeeding is so unnecessary-and it is a form of abuse.
Of course most people are fat because they consume more calories than they burn. But we aren’t about to commit them to fat farms, either. Removing a child from the home is a form of abuse…a serious one that is more detrimental to the child than most poor decisions parents make.
It cannot be taken lightly.
And if you do believe there are abuse issues going on with your relative, you are morally and legally obligated to do something. It is not enough to wait for “someone else.”