Lisa

You know that sad thing is tho, is that the school probably feels this is a very healthy diet! It's low-fat, or fairly low fat....and that's about all they look at!

I've asked my pediatrician in the past about kids that were brought in to the office that were overweight, dirty, underweight....and basically what he said was as long as there's no "signs of abuse" and the child isn't UNDERWEIGHT, they pretty much don't raise questions with the parents....unless there's a medical reason to do so! (I was almost reported to DSS when my daughter was 5....she was underweight and the WIC program people wanted me to feed her deserts when she didn't eat her meals! When I said I wouldn't do that, they threatened to call DSS if her weight didn't go up. Luckily my pediatrician went to bat for me...to this day, she's 21, she has to fight to keep her weight up) He did agree that HE thought overweight, if severe, and poor hygeine were also problems, but said that the courts wouldn't agree and so most docs quietly try, then ignore.

I'd tend to say he was right....remember the recent cases where children WERE taken from the parents? One child was pre-school age (can't remember exact age) and was OVER 200 POUNDS!!!!!! Now if that isn't abuse, i don't know what is! But the public went nuts and most supported the parent, not DSS.

I guess the only thing we can do is educate those around us.....teach or own kids....and maybe some friends if the chance comes up....and hope for the best.