Have You Heard? : Child Obesity

Fat kids should be taken away from their parents, who are clearly abusing them, and put into foster homes for their own health.

At least, that's a claim one doctor is making. Doctor David Ludwig director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital in Boston. Ludwig's claim is that parents who enable/cause their children to become overweight or obese are practicing child abuse and should lose custody.
"He goes on to say that 'in severe cases of childhood obesity, removal from the home may be justifiable from a legal standpoint because of imminent health risks and the parents' chronic failure to address medical problems.' He says foster homes would be a last resort, but it's an option that should be kept on the table."

The question is, who should be the obesity police? Government? Doctors? Parents?
Say, you see a 150 pound 3rd grader. What is your reaction? Pity? Shock? Outrage? Now say you happen to know a hotline where you can report fat kids' parents. Would you call it? Even if you knew that it could potentially lead to those parents losing their own children?

I admit, the lack of nutrition and fitness education in America is sadly lacking. And again, that's one reason I'm part of Beachbody. Not only am I educating myself, but I'm learning how to reach out to other people. So i have to ask myself, is it abuse that these parents are inflicting or just simply miseducation. And what is to be done about it?

I'm rambling a bit because I don't know the answer and I haven't fully developed an opinion. When I think of my personal experience, I do wonder what could have been different. I've never been a skinny girl. Never obese, but overweight most of my life. It wasn't until high school when I started Weight Watchers that I got to a healthy weight. I don't hold blame on my parents for anything. I think they brought me up in a healthy environment that happened to be one in which cookies were involved. Often.  :)
As you know, my sweet tooth is intense. I think that came from growing up with lots of sugar. My parents exercise, not fanatically, but they stay in shape. In fact, they're all doing P90X now. YEAH, FAMILY! But I never got into sports or a lot of physical activity, unlike both my siblings.

The point is, I understand personally the effect one's childhood has on the rest of one's life. I do think it's unhealthy and sad to put kids in such a position so early in life that their very lives could be at risk and their chances of finding a healthy weight in the future much slimmer.

Education is the key, in my opinion. People need to know what they're putting into their bodies and what it does to them and especially what it does to kids' bodies that are still growing.

What do you think? Is foster care the answer? How can we educate parents to better their families nutrition? What's the culprit?

Click here for a link to this story in the LA Times.