In re.: State Intervention for Obesity

Source: CBS News (27 Nov 2011)

Synopsis: An eight year-old Ohio boy, allegedly weighing about 200 pounds, was placed into foster care based on allegations the parent(s) were not doing enough to control his obesity. 

Comment: I have some very mixed feelings on this, in part because the news report is so incomplete.  It is very difficult to imagine an 8 y/o reaching 200 pounds and there NOT be an underlying medical problem that goes above/beyond dieting, such as a metabolic disorder.  Also, I believe reasonable minds, even among doctors, would disagree regarding the nature and extent of the medical intervention that will be needed under the circumstances.  Ultimately, the state would have the burden of proof of showing that parental neglect had occurred, and in my view, it's going to require expert medical testimony, or at minimum, proof of some egregious acts on the part of the parent(s) that would directly cause the weight gain.  --SJR

Sunday Memorandum: Gordon B. Hinckley on Avoiding Cynicism, Negatism

Note: For whatever reason, this didn't publish when I posted it last July.

Sincere thanks to David Kenison for sharing the following. I'm just now reading this for the first time, and it is arguably even more relevant now than it was when it was first published in 1986.‎

"I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course. 

"What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: 'Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.'"

- Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Continuing Pursuit of Truth," Ensign, April 1986, p. 2