Abstract
In this paper we aim to demonstrate the enormous
ethical complexity that is prevalent in child obesity
cases. This complexity, we argue, favors a cautious
approach. Against those perhaps inclined to blame
neglectful parents, we argue that laying the blame for child
obesity at the feet of parents is simplistic once the broader
context is taken into account. We also show that parents
not only enjoy important relational prerogatives worth
defending, but that children, too, are beneficiaries of that
relationship in ways difficult to match elsewhere. Finally,
against the backdrop of growing public concern and pressure
to intervene earlier in the life cycle, we examine the
perhaps unintended stigmatizing effects that labeling and
intervention can have and consider a number of risks and
potential harms occasioned by state interventions in these
cases.