If you allow your young DC to become morbidly obese then it should be treated the same as if you'd starved them.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

This link is really upsetting. I hate seeing young children that are incredibly overweight. It is, for me, the same as seeing children that have been underfed. When children are young they do not get to choose what they eat, they are given their food by their parents.

I understand that as children get older then controlling what they eat when not under your supervision is impossible but at this age it is just appalling.

AIBU?

But we don't know if weigh was the only issue, I very much doubt it was as simple as "your child is morbidly obese, they are going into care"

And I think you are under estimating the damage that being so overweight would do psychologically, that is if the child survived long enough for that to be a problem given the pressure on her poor organs.

Morethan How can you mistakenly overfeed a child so that they weigh 10 stone by the age of 5? That isn't a mistake IMO. I could go with that for a child with a bit of 'chub' but not one that is morbidly obese.

Are you on glue? Eh? What does that mean?

How do you know they havent worked with the family though? how do you know the family were willing to be worked with?

Do you really think it is going to be as simple as them stepping in and removing a child just like that?

We fostered a child who was over weight

The parents feed the child rice pudding with condensed milk for breakfast lunch and diner also gAve jam tarts to shut the child upfor treats

Awful the child could barley move was diabetic

To be honest being a feeder is often systematic of other issues this and under feeding often goss hand in hand with neglect

Its not the same a starving, like someone said above starving a child is akin to attempted murder, you are enjoying watching a child slowly die.A deliberate and cruel act.

Overfeeding maybe down to ignorance, similar upbringing, children who live in places with no gardens? and no elevators ? (I live somewhere exactly like this) if my child had a big appetite it would be awful to control'.

Sunshine

How long do you work with a family before you call it a day 6 months for a 1 year old is half it's life
Often sw spend TOO long working with families and when the children finally come into care there so damaged they can't be adopted or long term fostered

Obesity can also kill. It also looks disgusting. Over feeding a child is neglectful.

"It also looks disgusting."

Aren't you just a charmer?!

Overfeeding maybe down to ignorance

Overfeeding a child to the extent that they weigh 10 stone at age 5, is not ignorance.

It is dangerously unfit "parenting".

It's a hard one, I think some people just have no clue about the right food choices nowadays. I still have big memories of being a young child (say 7 or 8) at home I'd eat the same as my Dad but on a smaller plate because obviously, I didn't need adult portions, I was consistantly a healthy weight as a child and am now. I still remember going to my friend who was really overweight and she'd get the same portions as the adults and so would I but i could never finish it! Even now she has never been a normal weight, but then is not educating yourself about portion control etc abuse? It's a really weird thing... the 5 year old girl at 10 stone tho :O DS is 3 stone 2 aged four!

But sunshine that is massively different from a child who keeps on putting on weight. Seriously how long should the system try when the only people who can make chances obviously aren't doing it?

The fact the child did lose weight when she was placed with a family who were willing to work to change what she ate showed that it was an issue that COULD be tackled, but it needs the adults who are caring to want to.

Nobody is saying that children should be taken into care at the first sign of obesity, or even that intervention is needed at that point. But when a child is morbidly obese, indeed weighing more than a lot of healthy female adults do, something needs to be done to protect the child.

You can't see why this case is different to a child who is overweight or even 'just' obese?

Perhaps parents instead of being scared should actually do something to change the future for their child for the best?

I would say it's neglect rather than abuse.

35% of children overweight is an epidemic. Sweet baby jesus. I don't know how that happens.

Obese children is a complex problem. Some children have genetic or other problems that cause unusual weight gain such that it is unfair to blame the parents.

Obesity also has links to poverty. Calorific food is generally cheaper than nutrient rich food. It is hard to provide healthy meals for your child if you do not have access to proper cooking facilities.

OP YABVVU, and I find the judging tone and ignorance of your OP way more upsetting than the sight of overweight children.

Obese children tend to have obese parents. It tends to be the entire family who are large. I imagine they want to give their children a healthy diet but don't really know how, or fall into poor eating habits mirroring their parents. It isn't just poor families either, have seen large well-off middle class families as well where everyone is big.

The answer is more parental support, not treating it as abuse/neglect.

A lot of it is down to the food culture in this country and lifestyles. People weren't thinner 30 years ago because they were more morally superior or less greedy.

I think neglect is a form of abuse and making your child morbidly obese is as much a conscious decision as starving one.

There needs to be more interventions of a forceful nature (towards the parents NOT the child) when it comes to handling this. If a parent starves their child then SS can, quite rightly, step in to protect the child. The same needs to be done for children that are grossly overweight.

By 'forceful' I mean that they should given mandatory courses in healthy eating and then supervised to ensure they are following the guidance. Taking children away from their homes is obviously a last resort.

Which parent wouldn't want what's best for their child?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is deeply uncomfortable with this conversation, that keeps referring back to a particular case...in which the facts are not known/in the public domain.

I'm shocked at the amount of judging and lack of support on this thread.

making your child morbidly obese is as much a conscious decision as starving one

Seriously? You think this is a calculated, cruel step taken by parents in an effort to harm their children?

Stop being so melodramatic, for goodness sake.

It's nowhere near the same.