September 07, 2011

Is obesity a form of child abuse?

The Telegraph recently reported about a horrific foster care case, where four of seven children were removed from their parent’s care because they were obese. After several warnings from social workers, and being relocated to “a special council-funded house,” the parents had still not been successful in helping their children to lose weight and were ultimately deemed unfit parents.

With child obesity rates jumping through the roof (this generation’s children have shorter life expectancies than their parents — a shocking truth due primarily to obesity), it’s no question that the issue of weight and children is an important one. While raising overweight children may not be active, intentional child abuse, numbers do stipulate that the current generation faces a lifetime of serious health risks due to high obesity rates, with an unprecedented laundry list of symptoms associated with long and short term health.

This family’s situation is a difficult one: they’ve committed no crime and have not been accused of intentional child abuse, but yet the UK saw their children as suffering and at risk — pulling them from their home just as they would any child who was being physically abused, or neglected.

Is the definition of child abuse changing? We’ve seen this happen before. Hitting, spanking, or even the whack of a belt, were all considered normal methods of punishment just decades ago. Now it is considered extremely inappropriate for parents to punish their children physically, and teachers and medical professionals are advised to pay close attention to any bruises or surface abrasions on children, in the event that a child is being abused at home.

Being overweight does abuse the body, but how much power should the government have in determining matters of right and wrong for families, and what constitutes child abuse?

Perhaps this needs to be a wider discussion. At the end of the day, all parents should aim to keep their children safe and healthy. Was the government right to assert that consciously raising obese children goes against those notions?