The methodology of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and
infants) study raises a number of important ethical questions. Many of these are already well recognised in ethical guidelines
that uphold principles of individual and parental consent, confidentiality and scientific review. There are, however, wider issues
that require ethical reflection. In this paper, we focus on a set of problems surrounding the evaluation of complex social
interventions, and argue that comprehensive and objective evaluation is a much more ethically charged aim than it may
first appear. In particular, we contend that standard scientific measuresFof body size and biomarkersFconvey only part of the
story. This is partly because, when we intervene in communities, we are also concerned with complex social effects. These effects
are made even more complex by contemporary social anxieties about fat and physical appearance, as well as about the safety
and security of children. Such anxieties increase the risk of undesirable side effects that are themselves difficult to gauge.
In the face of these and other complexities, we argue that the evaluation of interventions should involve a strong ethical
dimension. First, it must includeFas does the IDEFICS studyFconsideration of the opinions of the people affected, who are
subjected to interventions in ways that necessarily go beyond individual consent. Second, we suggest that interventions might
also be assessed by how much they empower peopleFand especially those persons, such as children, who are otherwise often
disempowered.