Five-year-old's removal from family spotlights obesity intervention

By: Ryan Jaslow
Topics: News ,; Kids and family ,; Diet

(Credit: istockphoto)

(CBS) As the childhood obesity epidemic continues to grow, health officials are turning to extreme measures. Now, a 5-year-old child from the U.K. has been taken from his parents due to obesity concerns, the Daily Mail reported.

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The child, whose name was not released, is among the youngest ever to be taken into care because of obesity. The child, who hailed from Tameside, Greater Manchester, reportedly weighed 60-pounds and had mass index of 22.6, which is considered clinically obese.

The child was actually the second young person taken from the Tameside region this week. A 14-year-old who weighed more than 182 pounds was taken by social workers, also citing parent neglect.

"The point at which obesity turns into a child-protection issue is a complex and difficult area, and in these two cases there were other determining factors that led to the children being placed in local authority care," a spokesperson for the Tameside Council, told The Daily Mail. "'Parents should be supported to address their child's obesity, and social workers should only act if parents fail to engage with the proposed plan to improve their child's safety and well-being."

Since 2007, more than 15 British children have been taken from their homes and placed in foster care because of obesity concerns, The Mail reported.

And the trend is already on its way to the States. Just last week, an obese 8-year-old boy who weighed 200-pounds was taken from his Ohio home by Cleveland social workers, CBS News reported.

"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, said at the time. "Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. They are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying."

There is custody hearing scheduled for next month in the case of the Ohio boy, who had gained 60 pounds in one month.

Nearly 17 percent of all U.S. children and adolescents are obese, according to the CDC. Childhood obesity is defined as having a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. About 2 million kids have a BMI at or beyond the 99th percentile, Reuters reported.

Is foster care the last resort to fighting childhood obesity?

"You don't take someone out of the house and away from their parents unless they have an immediate risk of death," Dr. Arthur Caplan, professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, told CBS News.

In Caplan's opinion, if a child is starving or has a life-threatening disease that is going untreated because of parental negligence, then these reasons would meet the imminent death standard for removing a child from his home. But as for obesity, where risk factors including diabetes and sleep apnea may take years to develop?

Caplan said "It's almost impossible to imagine," a life-threatening situation from obesity. More importantly, he said, "There's no evidence that foster care is cure for obesity"

Caplan said the U.S. foster care system is overwhelmed as is, and foster parents can barely take on kids who are hurt by their parents, let alone have a weight problem. "The notion that we got this foster care network in the fight against obesity is delusional," he said.

If society really wants to help a morbidly obese child, Caplan said, intervention should take place in the home, not away from it. If you remove an obese child from his/her home where these unhealthy habits are taking place, he said, the child is likely to return to that same home following foster care.

Said Caplan, "I understand the desire to do something, but moving the kid out is going in the wrong direction."

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by JessG3 December 6, 2011 7:25 PM EST: It is sad to see a child torn away from their family but I do believe that an intervention by the authorities is necessary in some cases. An adolescent child has very little control over what they put into their bodies; parents are the providers and should be responsible for providing an adequate diet for their child. There are no excuses; it is not the media's fault, it is not the fault of the fast food industry, nor is it that healthy food is too expensive. Losing weight, keeping it off and living healthy is a life style change and families need to be up to the challenge.

The Ohio mother quoted in this article was urged by the Children and Family Services agency to help her child lose weight, and they worked with her for 20 months before making the decision to remove the child from her care. I am sure she did try to help but sometimes that isn't enough.; Reply to this comment


by SusanStoHelit December 6, 2011 4:56 PM EST: The kid weighed enough that he was having trouble breathing - then he gains _60!_ - SIXTY fracking pounds in one singular MONTH? Going from 140 to 200 - and the mother claims she's 'trying'? That's not trying, that's deliberately feeding your child into an early grave! What is wrong with her?

If you are starving your child to death, they take the child away. If you are feeding your child to death - they take your child away. Easy solution - take care of your kids! This isn't just slightly overweight - this is morbidly obese - enough fat that it can kill these kids, overload their heart, suffocate them as they sleep.; Reply to this comment


by wildinaustin December 6, 2011 12:26 PM EST: Well I think that removing the children is a much more tramatic event than being overweight. The should have taken the PARENTS away if anyone. The child suffers and is probably going to have PTSS making food a forever enemy. I think all government has ventured into private, human being areas. Now they think for us, tell us what we should look like, what we should think and how we must act. The government is so busy legislating common sense that they don't have time for economic, health or peace issues. It's a family matter, not a government issue.; Reply to this comment


by dontbesilly December 6, 2011 10:39 AM EST: Taking these children away from their homes purely because of their weight (albeit a concern) is setting a lifelong precedent for them that says they are bad and that they are responsible for being taken away and all the pain that comes with that for the child and the rest of the family. This action, supposedly in the best interest of the child, will firmly imprint this child's self-impression as a person less than others and this is for life. Something is not right in the lives of these children and it could be neglect in some situations. But to make a sweeping decision across all obese children is in itself neglect and to remove a child from the home based simply on being over weight is cruel and traumatic and irresponsible on the part of the people who are supposed to protect them.; Reply to this comment


by longtree-2009 December 6, 2011 4:58 AM EST: the USA has more than its share of obese citizens. wouldn't be surprised if a third of the 300+ million USA population is obese and perhaps more.; Reply to this comment


by Jaylah54 December 6, 2011 3:12 AM EST: Let's also remember that Britain already has socialized medicine, so there's no chance that this kid's parents (or the kid when he grows up) is going to have to pay higher medical insurance premiums due to the increased health problem caused by his obesity.

Yeah, I get the idea that the kid is eventually (one hopes) going to be returned to his family. But here's hoping that -- having lost the kid once -- the parents take changing food/exercise habits more seriously.; Reply to this comment