Do Working Moms Have It Easy?
Your Morning Coffee Could Save Your Life
Join the Fight Against Toxic Kids' Products
8 Summery Sweet Popsicles You Can Make at Home
Guy Gets Chest Waxed on National TV (VIDEO)
14 Ways to Be a Happier Mom
How Tarot Cards Cured My Nightmares
Robin Gibbs Dies: 5 Greatest Bee Gees Songs (VIDEOS)
A User's Manual for My Daughter to Remember Me By
Stupid Reason #768 Kids Get Suspended From School (VIDEO)
Mom Confession: I Never Wanted to Be a Mother
Why '50 Shades of Grey' Is a Must-Buy for Every Guy
'What to Expect When You're Expecting' Review (VIDEO)
10 Things a Husband Should Never Say to His Wife
11 Beautifully Painted Pregnant Bellies (PHOTOS)
Does this prove the current campaign against childhood obesity has gotten maybe just a little bit out of control? An Ohio third-grader who tips the scales at more than 200 pounds has been removed from his family's custody and placed in foster care after county social workers concluded that his mother's inability to help him shed his considerable spare poundage qualifies as medical neglect.
How absurd! Look, this kid undeniably needs some help taking off his tremendous excess weight, which places him at risk for diabetes and hypertension. (My 8-year-old son, who is within "normal" range, weighs less than a third of what this poor boy weighs!) But couldn't a healthy weight-loss regime be better handled by giving his family the resources and support to tackle the challenge in their own home?
Unless this boy's mother has been abusive in other ways, removing her child from her care, regardless of how lax her diet approach, is really unconscionable. (Did she force-feed him French fries and sugary soft drinks? Some kids sneak food.) It's cruel to both mother and child.
One wonders whether it might prove counterproductive as well. Will this kid eat more to compensate for the loss (even if temporary) of his mom and his home? And how will his diet be regulated in his new foster home? I, for one, am a little worried about overly strict methods that will cause him even more stress. This kid needs a system that helps him gradually lose weight within a loving, supportive environment -- a system that helps him understand how to make healthy choices. Not a system that is itself so sick it would remove him from his family's care.
There could be more to this story than we've been told so far. Perhaps the caseworkers suspected other sorts of abuse or neglect. But if it really is just a case of a mother not taking a stricter hand with her child, albeit a child with a severe weight problem, it's an unfortunate -- and outrageous -- story indeed.
Do you think it makes sense to remove a severely overweight child from his family's care in the interest of his health?
Image via mauricesvay/Flickr
Raising Digital Kids
Best Father-Daughter Dance Ever!
How Do Airplanes Stay in the Sky? -...
Twilight's Disappointing Sex Scene
Comments (142)
I agree it's a sad situation either way, but when a parent IS offered all this support and still does not take advantage of it because she can't tell her child no or bear to see him cry, then what option is left? In my state, the courts have the option of assigning a worker to be in the home 24/7 (or presumably two on shifts,) but this is usually used in cases in which the parent has severe developmental issues but no abuse. I'm not sure if that is the case here, but it sounds like this is a last resort. This will undoubtedly cause enormous stress to the child even if he gets a good foster home, but hopefully the mother will still have lots of visitation time, and this might just be the shock she needs to take advantage of the help she's been offered.
It is really sad, but wonder how much more there is to the story..
Well, it's not the 8 year old's job to make healthy choices. It's his mother's. Clearly she can't say no to him, and allowing him to eat himself into an obese state is neglectful. It's her job as a mother to make sure he is healthy within the parameters she can control. She sure the hell can control what he eats. And she can make him play outside instead of sitting in front of the TV all day. It's called parenting, and she clearly isn't capable of it. Therefore, they took him away until she can figure it out..
Kids don't get obese by themselves. Allowing your child to get to that state is abuse, and clearly neglectful. End of story.
I fully support this court's decision. I have always maintained that childhood obesity is a form of child abuse. It's the parents job to make sure their children are safe and healthy. If a parent wasn't feeding their child and he/she became so malnourished they couldn't function, that child would be taken away - so what is the difference?! Obviously this 300 lb child couldn't function and was not living a well adjusted, normal life by any means. Not to mention numerous health problems - that will most likely affect him for the rest of his life. Parents need to wake up and realize that there is a HUGE difference between cute and chubby and just plain fat and unhealthy.
It's hard to say whether or not I think this was overkill, because I don't know all the details. Was the mother offered help and resources and continued in bad habits of caring for her child anyway?
And I know kids can sneak food, but I find it hard to believe that a 3rd grader could get up to 200 pounds on sneaking food alone.
@Melissa - Other articles are saying that she was provided (throught medicaid) a doctor, nutritionist, child and family counseling, and was non-compliant with the treatment plan...
Plenty of people are going to say "oh well where does it end then? Will they take our kids away if we don't give them organic food?" And to that I say... Shut up. Common sense can draw a pretty clear line.