First Ohio Case of Child Taken from Family for being Obese

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
In a first for Ohio, officials in Cleveland Heights have removed a child from his home on grounds of being severely obese.
 
The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services put the third grader, who weighed more than 200 pounds, into a foster home after it decided the mother was not following a doctor’s order for reducing the eight-year-old’s weight. Officials categorized the matter as a form of medical neglect on the part of the parent. The average weight for an eight-year-old male is 55-60 pounds.
 
The child is at risk of developing diseases like diabetes and hypertension if his weight is not brought under control, authorities say.
 
Ohio’s health department estimates more than 12% of third-graders statewide are severely obese. But this is thought to be the first time the state or a county in Ohio has placed a child in foster care for reasons dealing with weight.
 
Critics say the government lacks any moral authority in taking children away for being overweight because elsewhere it allows unhealthy food to be advertised, especially those targeting youths.
 
An article by Lindsey Murtagh and David S. Ludwig in The Journal of the American Medical Association has said placing children temporarily into foster care can be considered a more ethical option than performing weight-reducing surgery.
 
It is estimated that about two million children are extremely obese in the U.S. today.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
County Places Obese Cleveland Heights Child in Foster Care (by Rachel Dissell, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Should Parents Lose Custody of Super Obese Kids? (by Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press) 

Comments

Dwayne 12 years ago
talk about picking the low hanging fruit. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys are sexually assaulted and 95% know their abuser. who's removing them? d'uh.
D 12 years ago
this kid may be fat, but the government taking his life over is just as scary or may be worse for him in the long run. foster care is ripe with problems of it's own including drugs, sexual abuse, mental abuse, etc... you get the picture. a family, even a very flawed family is better than the government care. as if they have any moral authority. if a kid dies in their care, no one is to blame and the buck stops there with all the finger pointing. no one is ever charged and the kid, well he's dead, on drugs or whatever. the government is like faceless person, no morals and no values. blah....
Claudia Clarke 12 years ago
very sad. i dont think this mother or others should just be thrown into jail. i believe educating this family about healthy food also help this poor child. taking this child from a home he or she is familiar with is cruel in itself. without knowing the facts of this case, i just want to be cautious in my comment. i hope this child is not been made fun of.
MzDevious 12 years ago
the mother should be thrown in jail. how can a mother sit and watch her child become so large. parents need to be held accountable for the actions of their offspring.
Lonnie 12 years ago
taking a child out of a environment that they are comfortable with because they are overweight, now does'nt that sound a little far fetched. so how is the child going to cope with being put in a foster care environment, away from family and friends. sure the child can deal with the weight problem with the right guidance, but how will he deal with being put into a unfamiliar environment. obviously there has to be some connection between the dept of family services representatives and the money grabbing foster care families. shame on you for taking this child away from his mother and environment. i guess this is just another step in the federal depts. for some sort of complete control over the public. heres a hint: why not take all the money grabbing politicians out of government that are overweight. oh geez, thats right it is hard to do that as these overweight grabastic pieces of amphibian shit are the ones making these so called good decisions for our youth. yay, what a sad, sad place this world is coming to. hmm, anyone know the number to call for permission to fart?
Vic A 12 years ago
i wish this story went into more detail. i'd like to know the socio-economic background of the parents. the article only mentions a mother, so i'm assuming this is a single mom? i wonder if she is a low income mother or on social assistance? foster parents get paid to take in foster kids. i think that money would have been better spent by the government in educating the mother and child, paying for a fitness program, paying for a dietician, paying for healthy fresh food, etc. there are so many other ways to achieve a positive result with out being so heavy handed. i don't think living in a foster home will be healthy for the child's mental or emotional state.
Liebuster 12 years ago
also, government itself admits that medical neglect and death are more likely once removed from the home by the state. but it's a profit driven industry. http://familyrightsassociation.com/bin/white_papers-articles/dorothy_never_coming_home/ also, obese children usually drop weight according to studies. they then become the most healthy weight class. overweight adults, who actually, believe it or not, live longer than normal weighties. or skinny unhealthy people, as i like to call them. you skinny fucks.
anonymouse 12 years ago
government over-reach for sure. where does this stop? next thing you know, they'll be telling citizens what they can legally smoke or drink! oh, wait...

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