AMA Journal of Ethics^®

All of us who are pursuing solutions to the obesity epidemic face clinical, ethical, and regulatory challenges. First among them is the significant role of individual lifestyle and behavior choices in causing obesity.

The rationale for policy intervention to reduce obesity rates appears compelling. Justification for intervening in the case of children is particularly strong, and precedent suggests that society will more readily accept appropriate restrictions to youth behavior.

A BMI requirement for physicians would not necessarily increase primary care doctors’ effectiveness in providing weight counseling.

The U.S.’s and U.K.’s efforts to combat obesity reflect underlying differences in the two countries’ understandings of obesity’s causes.

This case poses two important questions. First, do schools have the right or the duty to monitor students’ health status measures and require action from parents and, second, what is the role of a student’s primary care physician in this context?

The AAP’s guidelines on lipid screening for children raise concerns about the fundamental purpose of prevention and its role in balancing individual autonomy with the benefits of society at large.

Given the well-established correlation across cultures between poverty and unhealthy lifestyles, can it be just to hold individuals responsible for choices typical of their socioeconomic sector? Aren’t patient-responsibility programs simply conspiracies to shrink benefits to the poor?