Ohio puts 200-pound third-grader in foster care


Where's the imminent risk ? The sad thing is that she probably agreed/volunteered for services because she wanted help for her child. Once you agree to their 'plan' and let them in the door they can do this without proving imminent risk. This is why I don't suggest cooperating with them. Make them prove their case and don't do anything that isn't court ordered.
 
I wonder if he has been tested for any metabolic disorders?
 
But leave "thin" children with their pedophile or physically abusive parents.. Sigh. TOO much "big brother" going on in this country and in all the wrong ways!
 
Yes, parents should be free to raise behemoths who'll drop dead before they're 30. I think not.
 
I am not trying to make excuses for anyone, but I think MAYBE the large amounts of hormones and other chemicals in the food are not doing anone's kids any good. I'm just sayin'.
 
Taking an overweight child from his home because he is overweight is abuse IMO.

There had to be a better way to handle this.
 
Yes, parents should be free to raise behemoths who'll drop dead before they're 30. I think not.

There's no evidence that the government will do a better job. Hope they don't send him to a family like the Barahona's. Many children go through phases/ spurts where they're larger at certain ages and it's purely speculation/ opinion that he'll drop dead at an early age. They took him from his home based on opinion not abuse.
 
I am not trying to make excuses for anyone, but I think MAYBE the large amounts of hormones and other chemicals in the food are not doing anone's kids any good. I'm just sayin'.

Good point. Especially the growth hormones they're giving cows to produce more milk. My 10 year old hit puberty last year !! She's almost 5'2 and weights 135 lbs. She has the body of a 14 year old !! I'm worried about her weight but I can't watch every bite she puts in her mouth. It's also hard for me to tell her no when she asks for something to eat.
My son turned 12 and he's 5'5 & 148 lbs. He's not overweight for his height but last year he was really chunky. He has asthma and used flovent (an inhaled steroid) on a daily basis. After researching flovent and it's side effects, I had the doc take him off and he has slimmed down alot. There are many things that can cause obesity besides parental negligence.
What's next ? I can't get my son to eat any vegetables, he could drop dead before 30, but what am I supposed to do ? I make him take a multi- vitamin but if I hold him down (impossible because he's bigger than me) and shove the veggies down his throat, they'd take him because I'm abusive. If the state placed him in foster care, how would the chosen 'better' parents get him to eat veggies ? Would they get to hold him down ?
 
Taking an overweight child from his home because he is overweight is abuse IMO.

There had to be a better way to handle this.

Can you imagine the emotional trauma this little boy is going through ?
 
I can understand removing a severely obese child from parents who refuse to cooperate with a doctor's treatment plan.

Not every overeating child gets this big. There is something WRONG, more than an overly indulgent parent. Just as reasonable as removing a diabetic child whose parents refuse to provide insulin and proper diet.

Anyone remember Jessica, the four hundred pound little one? She must be a teenager by now. I don't think she was removed forcibly, but she was sent into residential treatment for her obesity. I saw a YouTube of her recently. She's very delayed. She has obvious emotional and mental problems which you can't help but assume tie into how a four year old child could weigh 400 pounds. She was not just an over indulged child, she had/has a severe disability.

That said, I seriously doubt the child welfare system is going to go about snatching children with high BSA's. They can't even manage to protect much the children being beaten and raped and locked in cages. I'm not worried this will get out of control.

I do have concerns about too much government intrusion into private lives, as well.
 
Yes, parents should be free to raise behemoths who'll drop dead before they're 30. I think not.


My now (2 yr old) was born big.....
And he is big to this day....over 50 lbs.....he gets plenty of exercise and loves fruits and veggies.....We DO feed him healthy. I have never seen a child his age who liked spinach, cauliflower, broccolli, collards, etcccccc......... but he does!!!!
So, sorry if I don't like your post.
 
I hope the child was only removed at least after the family was given a chance to control food intake and learn what was wrong. ADD, and a child who has inherited mental illness could eat to extremes, and I don't see how one this young could have had a chance to be observed by teachers or many people outside the home. He'll probably be trying to sneak food, get up early to look for food, and be begging the other kids for extra food. Hopefully the foster family doesn't have a jillion kids to look after, so that they can really observe this child and find out what's wrong. No way could it just be a parent at fault.
 
Taking an overweight child from his home because he is overweight is abuse IMO.

There had to be a better way to handle this.

I agree. And 8 is a very interesting age. My son was quite chubby at that age and had a belly too. He's 14 now and shot up and is now tall and thin. But at 8, I'd dare you to call me an abusive mom because my son liked to eat. He wasn't 200 pounds, but where do you draw the line? Is anything over 120 gonna risk my kid from being removed? I think not!

Now this young child has a whole heck of a lot more to deal with than weight loss. He's been removed from his home, from his mother, and is no doubt looking forward to years of therapy!

Did they (whomever "they" are) even give the mom a chance? It's very very difficult to get weight off an 8 year old. Been there done that, glad I threw in the towel!

:furious:

MOO

Mel
 
I am not sure how I feel about this one. I too am concerned with big brother aspect of this. Not to even get into the fact that there are children who are literally being beaten to death and CPS is having a hard enough time protecting the ones who are in imminent danger.

The only way I can see even MAYBE supporting this situation here is if CPS has been involved for a while as have doctors and the parents are simply adamantly refusing to follow the medical advice. Even then I am a little iffy.

CPS is, by its own admission, overworked, underfunded, understaffed, etc etc. Do they really need to be ripping heavy kids out of their homes if the danger isn't imminent?? And I mean, heart attack next week imminent.

This one makes me all kinds of uncomfortable.
 
I understand that if this child is not taught to eat better as a child, he will be at risk of death before he becomes old. I understand that it is likely that before he dies he will probably suffer from health problems as a result of his overweight status. And so I guess I can kinda understand why he might be taken away if his mother doesn't wish to learn to cook for him to meet his needs.

But before they take on a new category of abuse that qualifies for removal of a child, let's fix the foster care/adoptive systems so that we can be assured that the system the child will be placed in is safe and not abusive.

And while we are looking at overweight kids, how about underfed kids? And not even just the underfed, how about the under nourished? Meals of pop and potato chips or McD's does not a good meal make.

But before we get to all those kids, let's make an effort to pull Mom's and Dad's punching bags out of homes as well as their drug/alcohol servers/buddies and their bedmates. When we are very sure that we have cared for all the children who are at immenient risk of harm, then let's work on pulling the overweight kids.
 
Allowing a 8 year old child to reach 200 pounds IS abusive. Yes, typically the state makes a poor parent and removing a child should always be the last resort. I'm quite sure CPS didn't swoop down and snatch this child with no warning. If this boys parents are unwilling or able to help him, then I hope they found great foster parents that can.

IMO This case is no different than removing malnourished children from their parents and no one seems to take issue with that.
 
Allowing a 8 year old child to reach 200 pounds IS abusive. Yes, typically the state makes a poor parent and removing a child should always be the last resort. I'm quite sure CPS didn't swoop down and snatch this child with no warning. If this boys parents are unwilling or able to help him, then I hope they found great foster parents that can.

IMO This case is no different than removing malnourished children from their parents and no one seems to take issue with that.

I think the issue is not necessarily the removal, but whether the county worked with the parents before taking him out of the home.
If there was a metabolic issue with an underweight or mal nourished child - there should be just as much as an uproar.
 
Yes, parents should be free to raise behemoths who'll drop dead before they're 30. I think not.

How is that any of the government's business? Taking him from his parents may cause him to put on even more weight. Who's the real abuser here?
 
Yeah, I don't like this one bit-- but I think there may be a silent factor here that wasn't in the article: how much does the mother weigh, what about other members of the family? I could understand the "imminent" part if this woman was one of the morbidly obese who rarely leaves the home, we've all see them on health shows. But, I really take issue with the term "abuse" as a label here, as it's clearly a "neglect" of his nutritional health. Foster care isn't cheap, it has long lasting psychological damage-- why oh why wasn't the family referred to a Specialist and Nutritionist? Is it because the CPS worker said abuse, rather than neglect?

I had a friend whose little toddler was low weight, highly active, and she loved vegetables! She met all her milestones but stayed in the 10th percentile (or something like that)-- her Doc referred them to CPS, which resulted in an enrollment of some program that provided milk and cheese and other proteins. She didn't need it (money was not a problem), but they insisted. She went along with them scared to death her toddler was in danger of being yanked away from her. To this day, this is a 5"8, slender dancer on a pep squad who eats raw bell peppers like apples in her lunch every day! LOL

I feel bad for this child-- he's so young and this is so scary. I hope Mom gets some good advice about how to wrangle the issue and get him home asap. I wish them both good health, love, and happiness. :(
 

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