I don't like this one bit. If the govt wants to offer health care services and the family voluntarily accepts that's ok. The govt can't just take fat kids away from their families. I hope there is more to this story that isn't being reported.. hopefully some pattern of abuse or something to justify government kidnapping. http://www.cleveland.com/parents/index.ssf/2011/11/is_obesity_cause_enough_to_tak.html CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Plain Dealer reporter Rachel Dissell today reports on an 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy who was removed from his home because Cuyahoga County officials deemed his obesity a health threat. The third-grader, whom The Plain Dealer is not naming, weighed more than 200 pounds and is considered severely obese and at risk for developing such diseases as diabetes and hypertension. As Dissell writes, "The case plays into an emerging national debate that has some urging social-service agencies to step in when parents have failed to address a weight problem. "Others suggest there's hypocrisy in a government that would advocate taking children away for being overweight while saying it's OK to advertise unhealthy food and put toys in fast-food kids' meals." No one denies that obesity among children isn't a health problem, but when does it become an imminent danger to one child? And who decides that the danger is imminent? Would the child suffer more by being removed from the household than by remaining in the home at an unhealthy weight? The boy's mother speaks for many mothers who have tried to help their child or children maintain a healthy weight as they are bombarded by fast-food ads, "food deserts" where only convenience stores sell food, and the attraction of a sedentary routine: "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." Experts in medical ethics are divided, as well. Dissell quotes Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics and medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. "A 218-pound 8-year-old is a time bomb," Caplan said. "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. " ABC News addressed this issue this summer. "When a child is being put in harm's way, he may benefit from some type of intervention to teach the child and parents how to exercise and eat healthy," a spokesman with Obesity Action Coalition said. "There's no blanket approach to this situation." Where does society draw the line? When does the parent's responsibility -- or lack or action -- end and the government's role begin to help a child lose weight so he or she can live longer?
Somehow that family got the attention of authorities. A mandated reporter perhaps a teacher or Dr.. I'd guess obesity was not the primary issue. At any rate, who here would like to parent or provide weight loss program to a 200 lb 8 year old? Food to this kid might be like taking a bone away from a hungry dog. What is the mother or parents to do when they restrict his food intake and the kid says "I'm going to kill myself if you don't let me eat" or he gets violent and threatens others. Professional intervention might offer the best outcome for parent and child, and this is only going to happen if the kid gets into the system through the courts.
"The boy's mother speaks for many mothers who have tried to help their child or children maintain a healthy weight as they are bombarded by fast-food ads, "food deserts" where only convenience stores sell food, and the attraction of a sedentary routine" ------------ This woman is blaming the system and wants us to jump on the bandwagon, she should take 100% of the blame, the kid is only 8 what the heck did he weigh when he was 5 or 6?
Your dealing with a small town journalist trying to make a name.. The article is hardly fact objective but preying to stoke a reaction. I'll reserve judgment until I see more facts.
Good luck with that. Situations like these are family court matters, Hipaa regs. The mother probably went to the press because she was po'd and if she continues trying to make a case in the press she'll be charged with endangering the welfare of her own child.