Parent giving 2 year old Slim Fast. Should I do something?

[HereForTheHelp]

Will try and keep brief and as anon as possible

Family have 3 children. The one I’m concerned about is almost 3 but looks to be about 18 months old and weighs even less (held them recently, this is how I know this). The child does walk but very unsteadily, talks in unclear single words and has very little muscle mass. They have sort of bent knees all the time, like a newborn baby would have.

One parent posts A LOT on social media and from the pictures and videos it’s clear that the house has a lot of rubbish and clutter in it. There’s always piled up dirty dishes, rubbish pushed to one side for the kids to sit and play and loads of wires dangling and in extension leads all over the floor

Parent has just posted that they’re feeding their 2 year old Slim Fast shakes in their baby bottle as they don’t eat a lot. I had previously seen the child drinking a pink drink but assumed it was nesquick or whatever. It’s definitely not the nutrishakes for children from the GP as I have seen the tin

What do I do? Is this something you would talk to the health visitor about? I am very concerned, especially about the youngest child. They are clearly loved and always have weather appropriate clothes etc

Report to social services. They may be neglecting him. If they aren't, they can share the information with the health visitor and GP.

Socail services definitely

You can make a safeguarding report online on your local authority website. Takes 5 minutes.

Call social services.

Obviously.

The slimfast on its own wouldn't alarm me. It's just a milkshake after all, but coupled with everything else I absolutely would speak to someone. This family might need support. SS aren't like the boogy man to be feared IME.

Make a report to SS. I would also let the parents know what other options are available instead of Slimfast though, children's supplement drinks and easy highly nutritious foods the child may eat. Maybe there is a website you could direct them to, or to speak to a healthcare professional. SS may not intervene and they need advice and help now.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz well aren't you a fucking delight. I'm clearly not stupid but I am concerned I'm being interfering as the children are clearly loved and looked after in other aspects. I just think the parents are clueless and could do with some support. Who to report to was my question

@gamerchick yes, thank you. I'll do that. I don't think social services are to be feared at all and I don't think these parents are abusive I just think they're a bit stupid

@ManicalLapwing

I don't think I could talk to them, the whole family is very loud and either talks over you or just goes 'awww yeah' like they have absolutely no idea what I'm saying (and I truly believe they don't, not that they're being rude and not listening)

Maybe you could notify the health visitor? I'm not sure how it works but then maybe they could make contact, give nutritional advice and report to SS too if they have concerns (I would still report to SS myself). I can see how the parents may believe that slimfast with the vitamins and so on is a better choice than something like nesquik that is just adding sugar to milk though.

Obviously they need some support, and I would file a safeguarding report, but I wonder if they’re doing this because they’ve seen it recommended for people who don’t eat.

This was in the early 2000s but my 93 year old grandma stopped eating much and she was advised to sip at slim fast (which I think came in cartons?) throughout the day, as it contained lots of nutrients.

I’m just thinking, if they’re not the brightest, or if they’re scared of getting professionals involved for some reason, they think this is the best way? Or someone’s told them this is worth a try?

Health visitor first, health visitor will refer to social work afterwards once they've got further information. The first thing social work will do is contact the health visitor for info.

However if you're unable to contact health for whatever reason, speak with social work.

You can love a child and not be deliberately abusive but still be neglecting that child and potentially causing serious and/or long term damage.

Protecting the child isn't calling this person a monster. And frankly, acting to protect a child is more important than this person's feelings or yours.

If you're concerned about her weight and development then phone the health visitor for her area. The slimfast thing wouldnt bother me as it's just a milkshake. My kids used to drink the strawberry one with their lunch sometimes.

@UnitedRoad

This is what I think may have happened tbh. I'm just concerned that she's giving them for every single meal and all through the day. The child is so underweight and I'm concerned the parent thinks the drinks are high in calories when they're marketed as diet drinks so are specifically low!

Shakes such as slim fast have actually been recommended by HV's for a family member of mines toddler who was refusing to eat. So all those weighing in with call SS and calling the OP stupid might need to take a look at themselves. Obviously it is not ideal but it is more beneficial nutritionally than a packet of crisps and a turkey twizzler.

Health visitor is your first point of call.

Slim fast doesn’t make you lose weight. It’s a milkshake. A friend used it to add extra calories when they were running a lot on top of their regular intake.

They might have been advised to do this by a health visitor.

Slimfast is full of sugar (or whey-based products that metabolise into sugars), chemicals & preservatives and are in no way suitable for children or anyone else

The overall picture you paint OP is very concerning. Good advice from PP about what to do, but I can understand you being wary about it.

It may work to add extra nutrition, but only if it is in addition to meals, not if it is filling the child up so that it ends up replacing other foods. A two year old needs a varied diet.

No health visitor in the world should be advising slim fast for a child. Ridiculous, shocking advice.

Slim fast is just a milkshake full of protein, vitamins and nutrients. It only is used for weight loss if you drink it instead of eating a meal. It tastes better than the ones made for children.
I would not worry about them feeding their kids slim fast to top up their calorie or nutrient intake. Some kids have celiacs or other chronic conditions that make eating solids difficult.
You can contact SS if you want to. But I wouldn’t unless I was absolutely sure the kids were underweight AND the parents didn’t seem to be doing anything about it.

thinks the drinks are high in calories when they're marketed as diet drinks so are specifically low!

Each shake is 230 calories. That’s pretty high considering the same amount of whole milk is only 149 calories.....

Again, the diet that is marketed is to drink a shake instead of eating a full meal. The shakes themselves are high calorie and high nutrient.

Rather than report to ss why not recommend paediasure instead and suggest making a gp appt offer to help with other dc ?

TBH I'm aghast at HV advising slim fast drinks for refusal to eat instead of paediasure or fortisips type things, you know, the ones actually designed as a food supplement instead of food replacement.