It is not uncommon to see request for help to feed starving children in the media, but have you ever seen a request to help an overweight child? The growing trend of childhood obesity is receiving very limited attention. The likelihood of an obese child being an obese adult is strong, and the link between obesity and disease is proven. These connections indicate that it will become not only a social issue, but a healthcare and economic issue in the lives of these children. It is difficult to determine when intervention needs to happen, how much right should given to a parent to choose what they allow their child to do and finally what should be the consequence if it is determined that the obesity is caused from neglect. “Childhood Obesity:
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Several years prior to Goldbas article another article was published in The Medical Journal of Australia in 2009. Authors Shirley Alexander, Louise Baur, Roger Magnusson and Bernadette Tobin researched a similar topic, “When does severe childhood obesity become a child protection issue? They approached the question like Goldbas showing the parallels between childhood obesity and the health risks associated with it and also recognized that parent neglect may be a causative factor. But then they moved on to examine the case of four-year-old Jade, whose obesity was taking a toll on her health and the mother was uncooperative in her treatment. After more than a year and a half of interventional treatments, and no decrease in her weight, Child Protection was notified. They recognized a best practice in deciding when it should be referred, “In cases of severe pediatric obesity, clinicians will need to decide at what point the longer-term risks are sufficiently important that notifying the case to child protection services is the best thing to do now, even if the circumstances are not urgent” (Alexander, 137). The authors also support the beliefs that a practicing physician should be held accountable also if they have not referred the case after an attempt at fixing the problem. In addition to these findings they note that there are not established guidelines for referring a child to protective services, and if would be of great benefit is those were to be established. Again the research conclusions are the same that this is a topic that would greatly benefit from more
Several years prior to Goldbas article another article was published in The Medical Journal of Australia in 2009. Authors Shirley Alexander, Louise Baur, Roger Magnusson and Bernadette Tobin researched a similar topic, “When does severe childhood obesity become a child protection issue? They approached the question like Goldbas showing the parallels between childhood obesity and the health risks associated with it and also recognized that parent neglect may be a causative factor. But then they moved on to examine the case of four-year-old Jade, whose obesity was taking a toll on her health and the mother was uncooperative in her treatment. After more than a year and a half of interventional treatments, and no decrease in her weight, Child Protection was notified. They recognized a best practice in deciding when it should be referred, “In cases of severe pediatric obesity, clinicians will need to decide at what point the longer-term risks are sufficiently important that notifying the case to child protection services is the best thing to do now, even if the circumstances are not urgent” (Alexander, 137). The authors also support the beliefs that a practicing physician should be held accountable also if they have not referred the case after an attempt at fixing the problem. In addition to these findings they note that there are not established guidelines for referring a child to protective services, and if would be of great benefit is those were to be established. Again the research conclusions are the same that this is a topic that would greatly benefit from more