Obesity is a major problem in the U.S., especially for America's 2 million extremely obese children. Some of those kids will develop diabetes and other obesity-related problems that will kill them by age 30, say Harvard researchers Dr. David Ludwig and Lindsey Murtagh in an opinion article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The epidemic is caused, in part, by "inadequate or unskilled parental supervision," the Harvard team says, and the answer might be placing more extremely obese children in foster care, at least temporarily. Is that really in kids' best interest?
Seizing kids is too extreme: The "epidemic of blubber among children" is America's "single biggest health crisis," says Arthur Caplan at MSNBC. "But forcing heavy children out of their homes is not the solution." The only justifiable reason for the state to take custody of a child is if there's threat of imminent, preventable death. A better approach would be to change our food culture. As we did with smoking, let's "demonize the companies that sell and market food that is not nutritious."
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