The parents could lose their obese children if they cannot help them to lose weight Posted on 03/24/2008 10:00:10 AM PDT by BGHater
Six young brothers and sisters face being taken from their parents and put into care because they are overweight.
Social workers have warned they will intervene if three of the youngsters – including a 12-year-old boy who weighs 16 stone – do not shed several pounds in three months.
The parents have been told they risk losing all their children if there is no improvement in the 12-year-old or two of his sisters aged 11 and three – who weigh 12 stone and four stone – by June.
The parents could lose their obese children if they cannot help them to lose weight
The family have also been ordered to send their children to dance and football lessons to help them lose weight.
The shocking development highlights Britain's childhood obesity crisis, which has already forced those as young as 13 to seek NHS weight-loss surgery.
Only America has more overweight children than the UK, leading health experts to warn that our current generation of youngsters may not outlive their parents.
But critics last night described the intervention of social workers as "deeply worrying" and questioned their powers to break up families.
Dr Colin Waine, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "This has to be a last resort.
Anxiety: The parents take their three-year-old daughter for a stroll
"We must understand the health dangers associated with obesity, but the approach I favour is regular monitoring of children's weight from birth to avoid drastic action like this."
Nadine Dorries, the Tory MP for Mid- Bedfordshire and a former nurse, described the measure as "draconian".
"A far more sensible and costeffective solution would be for the localauthority to provide round-the-clock support within the home, aimed at both assisting the children in attaining a healthier lifestyle and educating the parents," she said.
The family, who The Mail on Sunday are not naming to protect the children, say their slimming deadline was set at a meeting with child protection officers last Thursday in which they were warned all six children would be taken away.
If the children are put into foster homes it opens up the possibility they could be adopted, which would leave them unable to make contact with their birth parents until they were adults.
Last night the children's 39-year-old mother, who weighs 23 stone, said: "This is every family's worst nightmare.
"I just can't stop crying at the thought I could lose my beautiful children for ever."
The 12-year-old has developed "anger issues" and has been bullied at school.
His 11-year-old sister has now stopped eating proper meals because of her anxiety over the threat and her parents fear she is developing an eating disorder such as anorexia.
Social workers have also raised concerns about the couple's 21-monthold, who weighs 26lb, labelling him "overweight".
The other two children – a ten-yearold boy and seven-year-old girl – are also heavy, although the parents insist this is "puppy fat".
In an emotional interview, the mother said she and her 52-year-old husband – who weighs 18 stone and suffers from heart problems – were now living in fear.
She admitted: "They keep making an issue about the kids' weight. I don't even own a deep-fat fryer.
"All my food is home-cooked and the kids are not fed junk food at all.
"I feel we are being victimised. Children can carry a bit of puppy fat but they tend to lose it as they get older. Ours are not being given that chance."
Ironically, the family, from Dundee, first came under scrutiny by the authorities when they called asking for help managing their children, including their three-year-old daughter, who suffers from developmental problems.
The constant questioning by social workers has left the children aware that they may be taken from their mother and father.
Last night a close family friend, who has attended social services meetings with the parents as support, said: "They are a very vulnerable family who have simply been picked on.
"If they had just struggled on in silence I firmly believe they would not be in this horrendous situation.
"The parents do both have problems with their weight but the children are spotlessly clean. They are in the bath every night and their clothes are beautifully ironed. You never see them running around with bags of sweets."
Dundee City Council said: 'We are not able to comment on individual child protection issues.' Last year, an eight-year-old girl from the Cumbria area was taken into care because she weighed nine stone.
Correct title is:
Lose weight or we'll take all six of your children away: Outrage over social workers' 'draconian' ultimatum to parents
Coming to the US very soon I’m sure.
Smokers warned you.
I ran outside and picked up a couple of stones.
Didn’t seem that heavy to me.
The Conservatives have ensured that the British Labour Party has no competition, ever since they kicked Maggie Thatcher out of office.
The same problem arose in Canada: for decade after decade socialist government rode high, with no real competition to worry about.
And now, with Juan McCain as the Republican nominee, it looks as if America may enter the same situation, with frustrated conservatives locked out of the process and no one to vote for but left-wing ideologues or feeble, me-too opponents.
Government can’t do the things it’s supposed to do because it’s busy doing the things it’s not supposed to do.
They’re (the family) aren’t even that big compared to some I’ve seen. When you start talking about taking people’s children away, you better be prepared for civil war.
Indeed we did..
I don’t much like this sort of thing. It feels very wrong.
But then I think about it and wonder if I would think it very wrong if the children were substantially underweight.
Thanks. I figured a smart*ss post would bring help quicker than if I Googled it
The Mail seems to be a source of a lot of fake stories over there.
1 stone = 14 lbs
The mother weighs 320 and the dad goes 250 - a 21 month old child at 26 pounds doesn’t make their case.
There is a point at which it becomes child abuse, I guess, but if you’re going to take all fat kids away from their parents, I think you’re biting off more than you can chew...
Hope this link to the BBC works; contains a video from a very thin pediatrician (Dawn Primarolo)who was being interviewed about obesity in children:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7256342.stm
There's more than a few comparable American families parading around Disney World as we speak.
Nanny State Ping..............
I’m curious if these health experts who are pushing this “take-away”...have a system to place fat kids with thin parents or thin orphanage set-up? And after that...will they sterilize the parents? I suspect that the social services crowd may be surprised that judges who sign such orders....don’t want their pictures on the front-page of The Mirror...as family-breakers.
The family members are just channeling Henry VIII.
What the hell has happened to the Brits? Who kidnapped them?
Who gives a sh*t if they are fat?
Maybe they are victims of a poor metabolism.
They are being discriminated against because of their genes.
Just as if their genes coding for skin color were 'incorrect'.
I tell you I used to think the Brits would come out of their tailspin, begun when they axed Churchill.
But I guess not.
Brits:
Pull your Loaves out of the old Elephant and Castle!
As a homeschooling parent, I can only point out that this is what happens when we let non-certified nutritionists feed children. :)
"I feel we are being victimised. Children can carry a bit of puppy fat but they tend to lose it as they get older. Ours are not being given that chance."
The fact they're not getting junk food simply tells me they eat too much, regardless of what it is. Also, they've gone way past "a bit of puppy fat" and the 12 year old boy's weight suggests it's not going to change. My guess is that the social worker said what she did because national health care in England is already overburdened and they are told to nip potential problems in the bud. I can hardly fault the social worker.
/sarcasm
Indeed, they have. This skinny smoker is laughing and will not do a thing. I didn't want it to be this way, but...
I’ve seen people here in the US that make these people look like Kenyan track runners. lol
Expect a sudden "shortage" of social workers, then. We've the Everglades right next door...
Used to be a time where people aspired to being fat and it was considered attractive!
I was major beefcake to them!!!
(just kidding, not old enough or fat enough)
Isn't it part of vampire mythology that the vampire must be invited into your house in order to gain entry?
I suppose this is what happens when people have become conditioned to think of the state as their Nanny rather than the vampire it really is.
The Gov’t and a vampire are both scared of sunlight; sunlight in the form of openness and the press. Like the vampire, they are also afraid of a weapon, instead of garlic, we use the Constitution to free us from the clutches of Tyranny.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990743/posts?page=5#5
Yup, that is what the Centrist Coalition was all about.
Thanks. This thread was missing a Nanny-State apologist.
That is offensive to me. I should not have to be subjected to that while out in public. That should only be seen in her own home.
the cots on our ambulance hold up to 750 lbs.........that mom has a ways to go to reach that
...and your fat dog too!
England is much farther along on the way to totalitarianism. This is much more “normal” there.
Yeah, Mom that worked for you, didn't it? Age 39 and 23 stone (322lbs). How many pounds of bread, potatoes, pasta, and sugar do you feed those kids every week?
Yikes.
“...a very thin pediatrician (Dawn Primarolo)who was being interviewed about obesity in children.”
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Ah, yes, and did you notice the grayish Vegan cast to her skin? These people are the absolute worst.
Funny you should bring that up. Both vegans I know well are overweight, one about 50 lbs over.
“Funny you should bring that up. Both vegans I know well are overweight, one about 50 lbs over.”
_________________________________________________________________
Very interesting; that’d be a first for me. One I know is average weight and coloring, but she uses dairy and will eat fish. The rest? Pasty, gray, skinny and dour as all get-out! :-)
Both I know have good color. The one that will eat fish and eggs is only about 15lbs over. The one that won’t eat either is pretty hefty. Both are females in their 30’s.
That was sarcasm...
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
nice find, thanks for posting this story.
It’s tough to tell from anecdotal evidence whether veganism is a healthy way to live or not. My own experience with vegan friends is that a lot of them became vegans because of pre-existing health and weight maintenance issues. With some the veganism helped, with some it didn’t.
I do remember reading many years ago about a study of health issues among vegetarian and vegan seventh day adventists where veganism was the healthiest option for men, but vegetarianism was healthier for women. Unfortunately there were a lot of caveats with the study regarding population size and people selecting veganism because of heart disease, so I’m not sure what can be drawn from it.
Personally, I think if one is careful, meat eating (mostly fish), vegetarianism, or veganism, can all be healthy diets. However, practicing veganism requires the most thought about protein intake. I eat meat, and probably too much.
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