Generally I’m against state intrusion into the private domestic affairs of a family where raising children are concerned, but this piece of news really makes me upset. Parents should know better than to place their chidden on irregular diets without the expressed approval of a doctor, they are in fact placing their kids’ health at risk.

It’s entirely different scenario (IMHO) about obesity within a family, and the state threatening to take them away because they don’t fit within a prescribed ‘normal’ category. There is no immediate health risk. Super obese is another situation altogether and the state officials have to work out a suitable program to ensure the success of an intervention, not the knee-jerk yanking of the kids from the custody of the parents. KGS

Finnish officials mull taking children into care over low-carb diet

HT: Finnish officials have told a family of low-carbohydrate enthusiasts that their children would be taken into care if they failed to heed nutrition advice, provincial paper Iisalmen Sanomat reported Sunday. Ursula Schwab, a clinical nutrition specialist at the University of East Finland, said at least one family had received such an ultimatum after parents ignored healthcare staff’s warnings about the dangers of an imbalanced diet for children.

“If a child’s growth slows down because of a poor diet, one must send a wakeup call to parents,” Schwab told the Finnish News Agency. “Should this prove ineffective, the child must be moved to a place where he receives enough nutrition.”

Schwab added that she knew of parents who had put toddlers on so-called low-carb diets. “A strict low-carb diet is very fatty, and it suppresses hunger. If you down eggs and bacon for breakfast it will take hours before you can even imagine eating again.” “A growing child needs a varied diet.”