Should severely obese children be put in foster care?

As a dietitian and a parent, I try to give my girls the healthiest, but tastiest food I can.  I’ll admit, when we return from a vacation filled with “kid menus”, it’s not always easy to retrain their taste buds to want chicken and salad VS chicken fingers and fries.  But what becomes of kids that are allowed to eat nutrient-void fast food all the time?  Should their parents be blamed for their childhood obesity?  And if so, should severely morbidly obese children be taken from them and put into foster care?This question was raised recently in an article published in JAMA by Lindsey Murtagh (a lawyer) and Dr. David S. Ludwig, a pediatrician who specializes in childhood obesity.  They discuss a surprisingly successful case where a boy has lost 200 lbs within a year of being taken from his mother’s custody.  Obviously this is an unusual, unorthodox way to handle the situation, but in the boy’s case, it worked.Currently only 4 states have used child protection laws in morbid obesity cases.  The authors of the article suggest removal of morbidly obese children as a last resort.  Severely morbidly obese children are above the 99^th percentile for BMI.  Being this obese puts the child at risk for breathing problems, type 2 diabetes and other chronic illnesses at a very young age.    Does overfeeding an a a severely obese child become "abuse"?  Child abuse and neglect are defined according to American federal laws as,"any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm ... or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm".Removing a child from a home does not happen overnight, with the exception of suspected physical or sexual abuse.  Clinical testing to rule out any medical diagnosis affecting weight would be the first start in addition to parental education and family visitation.While I don’t completely agree with the authors of the JAMA article, I do find it troubling that severely obese children may be suffering from medical, as well as psychological conditions (depression, bullying, anxiety, to name a few).   It is interesting that Americans find it acceptable to remove a child from custody in the case of malnutrition, but may not accept that severe obesity is itself a form of malnutrition.If you’re a parent concerned about your child’s obesity, do something about it before their health suffers.  Buy and prepare healthy food.  Keep snacking, fast food, soft drinks and electronic consumption to a minimum.   Get out of the house and play.  Find professional help if you need it.  If you won’t do it, someone else may do it for you.