Pediatrician suggests obese children be taken from parents

2011-07-19

Richard Moore

Bcc: FYI
rkm websitehttp://cyberjournal.org
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It’s a dangerous slippery slope when you start calling for state intervention in families. Tearing families apart almost never results in a positive outcome. In fact, statistics show that children are many times more likely to be sexually abused while under foster care than they ever were with their original families.


US pediatrician suggests government should take obese children away from their parents

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) A pediatrician in Boston named David Ludwig has been sharply criticized over the past week for suggesting that obese children might be taken away from their parents by state authorities for their own safety. In his article, published in theJournal of the American Medical Association, he explains that taking these children away from their natural parents and putting them in foster care might, as a “last resort,” be the most ethical choice.

His article expresses concern about the over-use ofbariatric surgeryon children and teens, and he’s looking for an alternative solution that would help thesechildrenavoid surgery, which is dangerous and sometimes even deadly. His suggestion that the state might take these children away from theirparentsin some cases, however, strikes manypeopleas over-the-top outlandish, especially given the truth that state foster careworkersare, for the most part,obesepeople themselves!

Dr. Ludwig is a practicing physician as Boston’s Children’s Hospital, where he no doubt sees an endless stream ofobese childrencome and go. He is also a recipient of grant money from the National Institutes of Health.

Thearticlepublished in JAMA is entitled,“State Intervention in Life-Threatening Childhood Obesity”. Its authors are Lindsey Murtagh, JD, MPH, and David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD.

Here are some of the highlights of the article, as reprinted fromJAMA:

• “Ubiquitousjunk foodmarketing, lack of opportunities for physically active recreation, and other aspects of modernsocietypromote unhealthful lifestyles in children. Inadequate or unskilled parental supervision can leave children vulnerable to these obesigenic environmental influences.”

(I completely agree. Dr. Ludwig is absolutely right about this point.)

• “…poorparentingis analogous to secondhand smoke in thehome…”

This is starting to get into dangerous territory that could justify the statekidnappingchildren who don’t offer “proper parenting.” By this logic, many parents who engage in home schooling could also be targeted, especially if they don’t like their children to receive vaccines orchemotherapy.

• “Because of the poor outcome of conventional treatment for pediatric obesity, bariatricsurgeryhas become increasingly considered for adolescents with type 2diabetes. However, the long-termsafetyand effectiveness of this invasive procedure in adolescents remains unknown, and serious perioperative and long-term morbidity and mortality have been reported. As an alternative therapeutic approach, placement of the severely obesechildunder protective custody warrants discussion. “

At least he’s not calling for it to be a mandatory policy. But he is calling for “discussion” of the issue, and that’s where these things always start. He goes on to state thatdoctorsin many states are required to contact Child Protective Services and “tattle” on the parents of obese children, resulting in those children being taken away by CPS workers:

• “…mandated reporter laws may obligate physicians to contactchild protective servicesin the cases of children for whom chronic parental neglect has resulted in severe weight-relatedhealthcomplications.”

• “State intervention may serve the best interests of many children with life-threateningobesity, comprising the only realistic way to control harmful behaviors. …In severe instances ofchildhoodobesity, 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.”

Pay special attention to that last quote. In it, he reasons that usingguns(“removal from the home” must always be done by men with guns) to take children away from their parents if those parents fail to “address medical problems.” Well, gee, under this logic, the states could also kidnap children if the parents don’t have them all vaccinated.

It’s a dangerous slippery slope when you start calling for state intervention in families. Tearing families apart almost never results in a positive outcome. In fact, statistics show that children are many times more likely to be sexually abused while under foster care than they ever were with their original families.