Obesity in children under 12 should be considered parental neglect, a doctor claims.  Dr Matthew Capehorn contends that medics should take the same approach when faced with a child who is obese as they would with one who is severely malnourished. In the worst cases, he said, social services should be called in if a child's health was at risk because of their weight.

Dr Capehorn will call on other doctors to support his claims with a motion for the British Medical Association (BMA) conference in Torquay later this month. In February one child, Connor McCreaddie, eight, was almost taken into care because of his obesity.  Dr Capehorn, a Rotherham GP with a special interest in obesity said, “ If you are faced with a child who is severely under-nourished, alarm bells would be ringing. Social services, doctors and other authorities would be involved at a very easy stage because of concerns about the care being provided by the parents.  But the same approach is not taken when faced by a child who is obese.  I would say that having a child who is overweight poses as much a danger to their health as a child who is suffering malnutrition, or arguably more risk."