Last updated : Thursday, July 14, 2011

Print | |

 

Should Obese Children Be Taken From Their Parents?

According to a 2009 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly two out of three children are likely to grow up to be obese adults. This statistic, among many others, has proven that childhood obesity is a serious problem in the U.S. But what should be done to solve this epidemic? 

Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital Boston, proposes a solution in his July 13th, 2011 opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The report advocates for severely obese children to be be taken from their parents and placed in foster homes to get them the proper care they need. But is this best way to end obesity? iMag went to pediatrician, Dr. Peter Inguagiato, Senior Partner at MD's for Kids and Andrew Malekoff, the executive director for the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center in Roslyn Heights, N.Y., for their reactions.

Q: What is your reaction to the opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association?

Dr. Inguagiato: It's a ridiculous idea ... you can't take children away from their parents. It's another part of the government taking over our lives. I don't find it moral just to call parents neglectful. The solution is to educate parents from the start. Parents need to be educated to try to keep their child in certain weight limits. As a pediatrician, I use indexes such as charts, percentiles to determine this. Parents also need to be educated on proper nutrition such as not introducing solid foods too early and getting their children enough exercise. But another issue here is the fast food establishments. I believe they should have two menus, their regular menu and a healthy menu. That way parents can make healthy decisions when dining out with their children on fast food. 

Andrew Malekoff: Removing an obese child from his/her home, and the love and security of the family, and sending them to a special foster home is a terrible idea. If the goal is to help the child live a healthier lifestyle and manage their weight through a dramatic intervention, when all else fails, bring someone with expertise on these matters into the home instead of placing the child outside the home (or else place the whole family in a foster home)! That “expert” can observe, counsel and guide the child, and the family, on the family’s turf. Change needs to be systemic and addressed in vivo (that is, intervening as it happens in the family) when the need to take extreme measures, short of a hospital stay, is called for. Separating children from their families sends a bad message, places a vulnerable child at greater emotional risk and creates a sense of incompetence in parents who may already be at their wits’ end and overly critical of how they are doing as parents. I am not suggesting that when there is a serious health problem to be addressed regarding a child’s weight that it should be minimized or that families should to do nothing; rather, there needs to be an alternative way to include the whole family in the helping equation, aside from ripping the child from the home.

Q: Why is the rate of childhood obesity so high in the first place?

Dr. Inguagiato: Most of  it is due to fast food. Around 73 percent of food consumed in the U.S. is consumed outside of the home. A lot of it is in low socio-economic groups that are not educated on what to eat. Another reason it's so high is because many families don't sit down together for meals. I recommend that parents have at least one meal a day with their child. This can benefit the child from both a nutritional and social standpoint.   

Andrew Malekoff: The obvious reason for obesity is eating too much and exercising too little; too much time in front of the TV, computer and video game screens and munching on high calorie snacks and fast foods, and devoting too little time in the playground or on the ball field. It's also the marketing of junk food. Rather than removing obese kids from their homes, the government should spend its energies curtailing the activities of the propaganda machine that brainwashes kids (and adults) with seductive ads for unhealthy foods that compound their weight and health problems. Another contributing factor is that obesity can be exacerbated when kids overeat to “stuff feelings.” That is, some children who are in distress or feeling stressed out, might use eating as a coping mechanism to deal with difficult and complicated feelings for which they have no healthy outlet, such as a trusted adult with whom they can confide their feelings. I wonder how placing such a child in a foster home will help that problem versus compound it. Also, it does not help that some schools are eliminating phys-ed programs.

What do you think should be done to end childhood obesity? Write in your response to imag@foxnews.com. To learn more about preventing obesity, click here.   

 

Print | |