Posts Tagged ‘David Ludwig’

Does Obesity Equate to Child Abuse?

July 17, 2011

Last week Harvard obesity specialist David Ludwig advocated putting children in temporary foster care when the child is found to be obese.   The obvious conclusion being, that in his opinion, allowing your child to get to the stage of obesity equates to a form of child abuse.

I don’t agree with this statement or the measures advocated by Mr. Ludwig.  And more importantly I think the debate will distract rather than positively influence what is a very important issue.  I appreciate the words of Dr. Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania who wrote:

“I am not letting parents off the hook,” he wrote in response to the article, “but putting the blame for childhood obesity on the home and then arguing that moving kids out of homes where obesity reigns is the answer is short-sighted and doomed to fail. We need the nation to go on a diet together and the most important places to start are the grocery store, schools and media.”

My only query on the above quote is why he omitted “home”.  Surely “home” is the most important place to start a change of habits.  Not just in what is eaten, but how food is eaten.  It is sad to hear of the demise of family dinners.  Surely the television and computers can be switched off for half-an-hour every evening.

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Posted in Nutrition, Parenting | 3 Comments »

Losing Custody of Your Kids Because of Obesity is a Disgusting Thought

July 13, 2011

Shame on you David Ludwig for making a conclusion that belies all common sense and sensitivity.  How can you justify the idea of taking children away from their parents because of their obesity?  How is such a move in the best interest of the child?

Should parents lose custody of their kids if they get too fat?

A commentary in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association says yes.

Harvard obesity specialist David Ludwig says putting children in temporary foster care can be more ethical than providing weight-loss surgery – but only in extreme cases.

Ludwig says the point is not to punish the parents – but to act in the child’s best interest, and provide care that the parents do not or cannot provide.

Ludwig says the goal is to get those kids back to their parents as soon as possible – and for parents to learn the proper ways to prevent future obesity.

There have previous calls for government intervention, in cases where parents either neglect or refuse proper efforts to control a child’s extreme weight.

A doctor from London cited a Wisconsin case from 2009 in which a 440-pound 16-year-old almost died at UW Hospital in Madison.

Doctors had talked about reporting the parents for neglect – but they didn’t have to, because the girl later lost 100 pounds with her family’s help.

The Journal article comes a week after an annual study reported that 27-percent of Wisconsin adults are obese.

This method will further punish a child with enough to contend with as it is.  No parent wants their child to be obese.  Yes, some do more than others to avoid obesity, but that doesn’t mean that they are not loving and caring parents.  Many of them, as reported, suffer from obesity themselves.

As a society we must learn to support rather than threaten.  The child’s welfare does not rely on just a loss of weight but also the continued love and support from their parents.  We must not fingerpoint or punish parents for obesity.  It won’t help one bit.  Instead we must offer as much support, education and guidance as we can to ensure that families are able to pass up cheap calorie laden products for the more expensive, yet far more healthy alternatives.

 

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Posted in Childhood Obesity, Parenting | Leave a Comment »