November 28, 2011 9:46 AM

Obese third-grader taken from family: Did state go too far?

By
Ryan Jaslow
Topics
Health Care ,
News ,
Kids and family ,
Diet

(Credit: istockphoto)

(CBS/AP) Childhood obesity is in the spotlight, as a 200-pound third grader from Ohio has been taken from his family and placed into foster care.

PICTURES: Oops! 8 ways parents make kids fat

A county spokeswoman cited "medical neglect" for the reason the eight-year-old was removed from his Cleveland home. Social workers worked with the boy's mother for a year before asking the court for custody of the child, the Plain Dealer reported. Social workers said the boy's mom wasn't doing enough to control his weight, putting him at an increased risk for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Lawyers for the mother argue that the county "overreached" in taking her son, saying the kid's health is not in imminent danger. The lawyers said they've seen children left in homes with abusive parents and drug addicts, but this boy had a normal childhood, participated in school active, and was on his elementary school honor roll.

"They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don't love my child," the boy's mother, who did not wish to be identified, told the Plain Dealer. "Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It's a lifestyle change, and they are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying."

What do obesity experts have to say?

Temporarily putting an obese child in foster care is makes more sense than alternative options - like obesity surgery, according to Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at the Children's Hospital Boston. Ludwig, who was not commenting on this particular case, raised the issue in a commentary published last July in the Journal of the American Medical Association, CBS News reported.

While these kids might not be in imminent danger, Ludwig said, children with obesity-related conditions like diabetes, breathing difficulties, and liver problems could die by age 30 if no action is taken.

Ludwig's paper set off a media firestorm, forcing him to defend his paper.

"It's absolutely understandable that if someone with an obese child heard the government could swoop in and take that child away, (they would) be frightened and outraged," Ludwig said. "I want to emphasize that foster care should only be the last resort when all other options have failed."

Other experts expressed doubts about the wisdom of taking kids away from their families.

"A 218-pound 8-year-old is a time bomb," Dr. Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Plain Dealer. "But the government cannot raise these children. A third of kids are fat. We aren't going to move them all to foster care. We can't afford it, and I'm not sure there are enough foster parents to do it. "

What do you think? Should obese kids be taken away from their families?

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Oops! 8 ways parents make kids fat

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by christmassammy December 16, 2011 5:22 PM EST
If they are going to take away overweight children then they need to do blood work on all children, just because a child is a normal weight does not mean that they are healthy. Today's society has both mom and dad working, children can't go out and play like they could 30 years ago. Mom and dad are getting home around 5 or 6 , make dinner, do homework, do housework, when is there time for exercise.
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by lovingmyOhana December 1, 2011 2:25 PM EST
If the government starts taking away overweight children in Hawaii, majority of our Polynesian keiki's (children) will be removed. Alot of Polynesians eat healthy, but it's like we are destined to be "big".Keeping your children active and educated on being healthy is best thing that you can do to ensure that they have the knowledge that they can carry with them when they become adults. Our children are our future, don't make it harder for them than it already is. ALOHA!
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by CandieBarr November 29, 2011 4:48 PM EST
Personally I think it depends partially on why the kid was so big. I mean, overweight is one thing and many times no matter how healthy you try to feed the kid or how much you try to get them active, some kids are naturally overweight and sometimes there are actual medical issues that cause a child to become obese. But if all you do is feed your kids junk food and let them sit on their ***** all day and they do become obese, then they should be taken away and their parents charged with neglect. I know many overweight and obese parents. Most of them have average or fairly thin children because they try to at least keep their kids healthy. But then you have parents that don't give a damn, go to the grocery store every week and spend a couple hundred dollars on quick and easy food like pizza pocket, cookies, ice cream, soda, chips, etc. I even know a couple that instead of helping their children with their weight, praise them and reward them with food. I know 1 woman that even made up for being a single mother by letting her 3 year old eat whatever she wanted whenever she wanted she included 5 potatoes with ketchup and cheese, 4 fairly big steaks, ice cream, soda, chips and cookies with 1 meal and no fruits or veggies. And I was overweight as a kid and still have problems with my weight. And as a child (from grade 1-6) I was outside for recess for about an hour a day, go home and do school work and watch a few shows until 5, then had supper and was out around 530-6 until 8 on school nights, 830 on weekends, 9 during the winter after church programs and I had an hour to hour and a half long dance classes 2 or 3 times a week. I was allowed 3 or 4 glasses of **** milk a day (suggested by doctor after I had broken my arm when I was 3 or 4) and 2 glasses of juice. Other than that I had to drink water. The problem with my weight was more of an issue of climbing on the counter to get to the top shelf where the snacks were stored when my mom was in the bath or outside after I was supposed to be inside or during lunch if she wasn't home. I was only allowed 1 or 2 of them a day though. but normally I wasn't much more than 5 or 10 lbs over weight (which my doctor said was fine) until I quit dance classes because I broke my leg when I was about 11.
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by jim878786 November 29, 2011 4:08 PM EST
Every single one of you who advocate for the removal of this child are advocating for your own children to be removed as well. If you give the government this much power, you will be the ones they will come for next. You can not appease authority in this way. It will not stop until you draw a line.
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by jim878786 November 29, 2011 3:58 PM EST
Obese children live longer than normal weight children. Also, foster care maximizes chances of death and molestation of children, according to NCCAN reporting.
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by rosscarn November 30, 2011 11:43 AM EST
I am guessing you are offering little more than opinion as opposed to fact. Allow me to offer some academia:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602096782
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0706538
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022347600788147
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v9/n11s/full/oby2001125a.html
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199709253371301

I could go on, but it just gets worse for your "obese children live longer..." accusation. Please note that these are scholarly journals w/ a strong history- New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, etc. Not merely news articles.
by JayAdlerMusic November 29, 2011 2:57 PM EST
It is unconscionable to allow a 200 pound morbidly obese youngster to remain at home with his parents if it can be shown that they are either the kid's enablers or are not living up to their responsibilities to deal with a life threatening situations.The child should be moved to safe haven and then counseled until his behavior is modified and likewise the parents should be compelled to take classes.The parents can always visit their child during treatment. Social Services should track the family.This is not the the time for liberal thinking. Eating bad food and being sedentary is lowering our life spans immeasurably.
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by jim878786 November 29, 2011 4:10 PM EST
You may not comment on the issue any further. Overweight people live longer. Obese children become overweight seniors. There is no proof that lifespan is shortened by childhood obesity. Show me one study that proves it, not an opinion piece.
by Diando01 November 30, 2011 8:48 AM EST
By all means.. Let's shut down all fast food restaurants, have the stores put the candy and snacks up where the children can't see them rather than at eye level. Let's pay for personal trainers for single parents babysitters, and put only heathly food in the schools (take the vending machines out). Let's take the the chemicals out of our food and water supply and start growing our own vegetables, in our own gardens and raising our own chickens, cow's sheep etc.. Better yet, just stop spending the Title IV funding (our tax dollars) on taking children and start spending that money on helping the families and children.. Let's begin by shutting down CPS!
by AmSocBariatricPhysicians November 29, 2011 2:16 PM EST
The American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) was discouraged to learn of the state of Ohio's decision to remove an 8-year-old child from his home due to excessive weight issues. Media reports state that the boy was on the honor roll, actively participating in school activities, and not in any immediate danger. The ASBP believes that this type of state intervention sets a dangerous precedent, is extreme and highly unjustified.

With approximately one out of three children in America considered overweight or obese, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. ASBP does not attribute this dramatic increase solely to poor parenting. Race and ethnicity, genetic predisposition, environment in utero and birth weight all affect obesity rates long before any active parenting occurs. After birth poverty, infant feeding practices, parent education level, and the cost disparity between healthy and less healthful foods play a role. Children cannot expend energy as in the past due to the fear of abduction as well as unsafe sidewalks, trails, and parks. In schools vending machines, poor quality school lunches, and the regrettable removal of physical education and health classes factor in. If that child turns on a computer and browses the internet, she is barraged by cereal and candy advertisements. Increased caloric densities of foods and portion sizes have also paralleled our obesity epidemic.

This is not to say that parents are completely defenseless to our obesity causing environment. As physicians who treat childhood obesity, the ASBP recognizes that parental involvement is paramount to a child's long-term success. Simple changes such as sitting down to dinner as a family, decreasing fast food consumption, controlling electronics and modeling healthy eating behaviors can have a significant impact on the weight of the entire family. Parents can remove junk foods from the home, decrease processed foods and increase produce (if they can afford to do so and have access to fresh fruits and vegetables). However, these behaviors alone do not guarantee success. Consider a family who has made these changes and the child remains severely obese. ASBP does not agree that the best or only option is to remove the child from his home.

Considering approximately two million children are severely obese, it seems risky to conclude that parental neglect is the common cause. Further the sheer numbers are clearly more than an already overburdened foster care system can handle. Obese children are discriminated against by peers and teachers, are bullied relentlessly, and have a quality of life equivalent to that of a cancer patient. The additional insult of removing a child from his or her home will in most cases do more harm than good. In addition, given the fact that 2/3 of our society is overweight and 1/3 obese, the chances that a child will be placed in a home of family who itself struggles with a weight problem is more likely than not.

In the case of the 8 year old Ohio boy, there appeared to be an engaged mother who expressed love for her child, but struggled to get him to lose weight. Since there were no reported signs of neglect or abuse in conjunction with this boy's obesity, the ASBP considers state intervention unnecessary, unrealistic and likely damaging to the child long term.

-American Society of Bariatric Physicians
Denver, CO
www.asbp.org
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by user_1123 November 29, 2011 11:37 AM EST
I grew up using food as a coping mechanism. My parents did everything they could to ensure I didn't end up as a 218-pound eight-year-old. I was always just about two or three sizes bigger than the average kid in my class, until high school when I had my own disposable income and used it to buy junk food and soda. We didn't have a lot of those types of things in our house when I was growing up; they were just occasional things. But nothing was ever done about my emotional issues and turning to food to cope.

I grew into a morbidly obese adult, and up until recently, I thought that was all there was to life -- that I was genetically destined to be that way. Nothing I did worked, because I never fully changed my entire lifestyle.

In the last two and a half years I have gone from morbidly obese to "normal", and am enjoying life more than I ever thought possible. I have fought hard to change my own lifestyle which includes my now five-year-old son. My husband, on the other hand, refuses to change, and that makes everything ten times harder. While he stuffs his face with three extra portions at dinner, my son and I are content with one (or even a half), and hubby will eat fast food after bedtime, and my son will cry because I won't let him have any food that late even though he's always been a healthy weight. I have a very hard time saying no to that extra late snack, myself, and I don't want that habit to be passed on to my child. I don't want the life of a fat child for my son because I know that life and, frankly, it stunk.

What this family needs is a lifestyle change for the whole family. If the government is going to do something, it should be to help the family change their habits. Is a foster family going to have better eating habits? Only possibly.

This article makes it really hard to form an informed opinion on the case because there is very little information other than the mother admits it's a lifestyle change, the child was obese, and the child was placed in foster care. The lawyers say social workers had been working with the mother, but we don't get much other information on what was being done.
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by Diando01 November 29, 2011 11:47 AM EST
CPS puts families on Family Service Plans which consist of: Parenting Classes, Anger Management Classes, Psych evaluations, drug classes, meetings etc.. None of which really deal with what the problem is. All of CPS's doctors are contracted through the State and paid for by the Government. The system is set up as to fail the family Not help the family.
by Diando01 November 29, 2011 11:35 AM EST
Hitler removed all children which did not have blonde hair and blue eyes! This child was removed solely for monitary value for the State of Ohio. The State of Ohio will be receiving $6,000 per a month for this child from Title IV funding (Our Social Security) which stems from Bill Clintons "Safe Family Act" bill passed in 1994 not to mention monies which will be received from the drug companies after they put him on a cocktail of psychotroic drugs. The Caseworker will receive a bonus for removing the child. If CPS and the State of Ohio really cared about this child they would have taken other measures such as sending in a Dietician and a personal trainer. In no way is it best for a child to be removed from their parents. People need to watch out because your child may be next!!!!
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by rosscarn November 30, 2011 11:51 AM EST
If you could cite actual sources for this information, it might be more credible. As it is, it rather sounds like the ramblings of someone who has had personal involvement of a similar nature.
Care to share when your removal story?
by Lionhart40 November 29, 2011 6:54 AM EST
While I don't like the idea of state intervention between parents and their kids I think there are plenty of times they don't get involved enough with disastrous results. The state just took a kid away from stupid parents that named their kid Adolf Hitler! It's the state trying to regulate human nature, good luck with that! In the end I just hope the kid is OK and gets to live a long healthy life.
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