Overweight Parents Lose Kids For Being Fat
A mother who weighs over three hundred pounds and her husband who weighs around two hundred fifty pounds have had all seven of their kids, including a newborn baby, taken away from them.
The couple’s attorney says the kids were taken by UK officials because of her clients’ weight issues.
The authorities deny it - but early in September, when Mom was still pregnant, the Times reported two of the kids were removed because they were feared to be leaning toward being dangerously overweight. One son, a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy (his exact age varies by account) who weighs around two hundred twenty-four pounds, was becoming a concern for the parents, who sought the help of local officials to get his weight under control.
But instead of helping them, the parents said social workers made a surprise visit and took two of the kids. Then they came back, eventually taking all seven, including the boy and a baby born just this week.
Extreme obesity is becoming a recognized form of child abuse, and scientists have found that overweight parents beget overweight kids - not just through genetics but because of the poor eating habits handed down to the next generation. Is it fair, however, to go after parents who were seeking help for their child?
I’m also curious to see how many consider 224 pounds on a teenage boy child abuse. It’s overweight, definitely, but we’re not talking the 555-pound child in South Carolina here.
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Tags: child abuse, childhood obesity, custody, fat, health, Jeanne Sager, obesity
11 Comments
[...] the case a couple months back about a family that lost their kids because they were obese, as was one of their children? The British child protection authority can and does remove kids from their families if the [...]
Missing DNA May Cause Severe Obesity | Strollerderby commented on Dec 10 09 at 5:01 pm[...] DNA May Cause Obesity GymBuddiez | December 17, 2009 Remember the case a couple months back about a family that lost their kids because they were obese, as was one of their children? The British child protection authority can [...]
GymBuddiez – Helpful Fitness Tips, Tools and Buddies in your Area » Missing DNA May Cause Obesity commented on Dec 17 09 at 7:27 pmKnitty commented on Oct 23 09 at 10:19 am“Extreme obesity is becoming a recognized form of child abuse”
No, it’s not, it’s being legitimized as the latest witch-hunt against parents. The ability to gain enough weight to be considered “extremely obese” is genetic — do you really think you could feed your toddler enough food to double her weight? Do you really think the parents of that 555-pound child were force-feeding him?
Rosana commented on Oct 23 09 at 10:51 amMaybe is not about quantity, maybe is about quality of the food and a sedentary lifestyle. However, I wonder how many parents over feed their kids junk and do not get punished because the child does not gain a lot of weight to become obese. I think as parents we need to make decisions in how we raise our kids an understand that just because you were raised with bad eating habits does not mean you have to raise your kids the same way. I grew up in a home where my mom will serve the food and you have to eat the whole thing before you can leave the table and where vegetables and fruit where not around often. I decided that was going to feed my kid good food and in the quantities that he wants to eat depending on his appetite, if he does not eat it all, that is ok, and fruit and vegetables are staples in his diet. He has a healthy appetite and I am sure he could live on potato chips and candy but I chose to give him healthy foods and his is is doing just great.
Eric commented on Oct 23 09 at 12:17 pmI don’t know why the British don’t just establish the ‘ministry of what I’m supposed to do today’ and get it over with.
Ali commented on Oct 23 09 at 2:50 pmThey have socialized medicine. Those children are a burden on the system so they were removed to curtail and prevent such a burden. Socialized medicine is big on preventative care. Get ready here it comes.
Eric commented on Oct 23 09 at 3:14 pmYou’re right Ali. Reminds me of the early parts of 1984 where the telescreen led you in government mandated exercise every morning.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 23 09 at 3:30 pmyikes… this makes me think of CS Lewis. If a man is free, he may ruin his body with food and drink and his mind with gambling and trash. He may be a damned fool if he does this, and he may well be a damned soul as well, but if he may do this, he is truly free.
brex commented on Oct 23 09 at 5:58 pmSounds like another way of seizing children of the poor and lower class.
Amy Kuras commented on Oct 24 09 at 9:08 amKnitty, I agree–one point that’s being really overlooked here is that genetics plays a huge role in weight. I know plenty of people who eat like crap and are major couch potatoes, but stay thin thanks to good genes (and sometimes smoking), and then there’s me, who works out hard four days a week and eats well, and my weight’s been a huge battle for my whole 30s (Thanks to my dad’s Polish body type and “thifty” genes and my own PCOS). Luckily my kids seem to have their dad’s tall and skinny genes so far, which we try to reinforce by not keeping a lot of junk in the house and modeling good eating habits.
Scout's Honor commented on Oct 26 09 at 4:56 pmThis is very tricky. I’ve seen obese parents and their kids are the same. I know it’s eating habits because they just engorge the kids on junk. since I struggle with my own weight, I’ve gone overboard with my kids. They must be in a sport. My kids swim 7 days a week and are very, very fit. not thin, but muscular and fit. I do think it’s a form of child abuse. You may not be able to control your own eating habits, but surely you can make sure they cycle is broken with your children. I don’t know that the children should have been taken, but an intervention was in order.
~Scout
