The subject has been debated ever since David Ludwig and Lindsey Murtagh of Harvard's School of Public Health advocated last year for the removal of severely obese children from parents who don't address the issue.
Don't think it can't happen here. It already has. Last year, a 13-year-old girl who weighed more than 400 pounds was removed from her home after experiencing medical problems. She's back home now with her family, which also received nutritional counseling.
See, we've got a severe childhood obesity problem in Philadelphia. According to the Department of Human Services, 41 percent of kids here are classified as obese - that is, one out of four kids has a body mass index at the 95th percentile or higher. Not so shocking given that adult obesity is off the charts.
I'd call it an epidemic when, for the first time, DHS nurses have to use scales with a 400-pound capacity so that they can better weigh the 12 morbidly obese kids they are already monitoring.
We can argue all day over whether putting juice in a sippy cup constitutes parental abuse, but the fact is, when more children are developing Type 2 diabetes - a disease once associated only with adults - something has to change.
"It's becoming more of an issue," understated DHS Commissioner Ann Marie Ambrose.
"We don't want to remove children. . . . For us, this is about being preventive and trying to educate."
A poverty link
There's a reason obesity goes hand in hand with poverty. In poorer communities, it seems as if everything works against good nutrition. Leading the way - the availability of cheap processed food. (I mean, have you seen KFC's Double Down offering? Bacon and cheese sandwiched between a pair of deep-fried chicken patties? And it's supposed to be the "breadless" option?)
You know what I mean. There are plenty of fast-food rows, but you're lucky to find a grocery store.
