I’m often asked how often we deal with children with weight issues, and if we have seen an increase in recent years. Many also wonder if there is a common reason for obesity in children in our community.

“When they would come before Rav Yehuda to complain about a father who refused to sustain his children, he would say to them: The jackal bears offspring and casts the obligation to feed them on the residents of the town? Even a jackal feeds its young, and it is certainly proper for a father to support his children.” Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 49b.