The Child Minder

Oh good grief-

Obesity may be the cause du jour but really there are so many ways of letting a child down. What about parents who push their children to do too much sport, causing injury because their bodies are immature? What about parents who fail to notice that their slender, pale child may have weaknesses in areas such as the heart? What about parents who fail to stop their child being bullied, or who fail to stop their child joining a gang- either of which can end in tragedy.

You may be right that numerically obesity is becoming a big problem, but if you can't discipline your child with a smack you can at least stick an icecream in their mouths. Maybe if parents could discipline their kids... smack, smack!

Are we that desperate as professionals that we now have to get involved in every possible social issue to secure our futures and make a role for ourselves.

Obesity is a problem but lots of other people and factors involved.

What do we do put all children in care from birth to ensure they do not cause a problem and cost state money in later life.

My wife and I once watched in horror as a mother forced an already obese kid a cream cake that he didn't want to eat - and protested that he didn't want to eat.

Surely that's an issue that needs some intervention?

It's always depressing to see a child who is so overweight they struggle to get their breath. And when that child is accompanied by an equally overweight parent pushing a shopping trolley overflowing with junk food around a supermarket, well it makes my blood boil.

But are these parents guilty of child abuse? I'm not sure. I tend to think that in most cases the harm parents of obese children are inflicting is due to ignorance, rather than a deliberate attempt to cause damage in, say, the same way as parents who deliberately starve their children.

Part of the reason for this view is that most parents of very overweight children are themselves hugely and dangerously fat, which indicates that they know nothing or very little about what to eat in order to be healthy. In contrast, people who starve their children do not often go hungry themselves.

If a parent is given help and advice on how to provide a nutritious and healthy diet for their child from professionals but chooses to ignore it - then that's child abuse. Until that point, maybe all they are guilty of is spoiling their children with too many "treats" or unintentionally providing too much food that is full of sugar, salt and fat.

We are living in an age when many people have a shockingly low level of knowledge about food.

During a recent shopping trip, a checkout lad picked up my leek and looked puzzled. "What's this?" he said. "Guess," I replied. His answer was celery. Oh dear. He wasn't overweight but I'm willing to bet he doesn't eat much veg.

Oh come on. I go to Greece on holiday too... there are lots of fat Greek people. Not so much the kids admittedly but older Greeks are often tubby. Big deal. Let's get over the weight thing. You might as well say we shouldn't watch dvds or go to the movies... all activities that lead to weight gain.

yes, yes, yes...we have heard it all about obese children and the arguments for and against. But what about children who are having to breathe in their carer's passive smoke? The law now protects adults in most situations...but this is still a case of a child not having equal health rights as an adult!

Then this means many social workers themselves need to be taken into the so called care of the state for big so fat too.!!!