Tuesday, September 6, 2011

England: Obese Children to be Put Up for Adoption

From Yahoo News:
The mother and father of seven children, six of whom are overweight, face the "unbearable" prospect of never seeing their four youngest again if authorities act on a threat to remove them.

Three girls aged 11, five and one, and a boy aged five, are to be put up for adoption or "fostered without contact" because their parents failed to help them slim down.

This means the parents will be unable to trace them and the family could only be reunited if the children attempt to find their family when they are grown up.

Social services warned the couple three years ago that their children would be taken away from them if they did not bring their weight under control.
Under this standard, I would have been removed and put up for adoption. . . .

8 comments:

The Declassified Adoptee said...

What are people thinking? Food intake for hurting people often becomes an issue of not only comfort but control. Do they really think that traumatizing children by taking them from their parents will fix the obesity?

Under these standards, I may as well have been removed from my adoptive parents! I had a high metabolism so I remained very slim. But my parents did not have very good eating habits as a child. Had I not had the metabolism that I did (and I stress the past-tense of "did") I might have been quite overweight.

ellen said...

Well....I agree it's a bit extreme but I have to say that I am horrified by the child obesity that I see in this country. Fat kids depress me - there, I said it. They really do...you have to feed your kid a LOT for them to reach some of the weights that I see out in public. Their natural metabolism is so high - I can't imagine what people are feeding their kids.
My daughter loves sweets and we work hard to keep it under control. It's not easy but you have to do it - part of a parent's job is to ensure good health and it makes me sick that so many parents let their kids get so overweight.
I tend to agree that when I see a very overweight child I blame the parents...so I can see where they are coming from. If they are neglecting their child's weight, what else are they neglecting?

Lori @ Five of My Own said...

there has to be more to this story...surely the obesity is a symptom of some larger abuse or neglect or risk to the children...that has cointinued for three years without correction.

Wow, let's hope there is a lot more to this story.

Mei-Ling said...

If your metabolism is high, you LOSE weight, because your body naturally burns the fat.

However, if you don't regard what your stomach is processing and you eat too much/too fast, you won't lose weight because your body can't digest it fast enough.

Anonymous said...

So what happens if they remain obese once they are with an adoptive or foster family? Do they get removed again in hopes of finding a place that will force them to lose weight?

Anonymous said...

Crazy! Just Crazy!

Why not spend the money on some medical care. Nutrition information, monitoring, exercise plan, grant to pay for sports camp for the kids, trainer to go to thier house......?

I get the idea of taking drastic steps to gt the kids healthy but removal from parents is not going to help. The trauma will only make the situation worse.

Unknown said...

Wow! This is terribly sad. Everyone has made great points. I have to really say I understand Amanda because I was the same way. I was always skinny. My mom had me on Ensure all day and threatening me that witches were going to get me if I did not eat my food. My whole adoptive family is obese. So lets just be thankful I do not live in England and I have a high metabolism. But I agree, what in the heck would happen if they remove the children and place them with another family and they STILL do not lose weight? I am afraid to know. Let's just hope there is more to this story.

Cady R. said...

This action to me is a little extreme. Our goal with adoption is to place children in loving homes, not try to create more orphans. While I believe the children's health is very important, I don't feel as though this is the right consequence. And what guidelines are they judging the children's weight? Are England’s standards of obesity normal weight in the US? That's something else we should take a look at. In addition, the parents are not entirely responsible for their children's weight. What about the school system? These children are spending a majority of their time, or at least the older ones, in a learning facility where they are fed. Is the school helping with providing healthy options? Instead of out right taking the children away, maybe the government should institute some guidance and help. I mean, think about it. Why do people overeat? One of the most common reasons in children overeating is the result of negative feelings. Do you think taking the children away from their biological parents is going to help them slim down or just escalate their eating? Adoption with no contact with the parents is a little harsh and quite frankly, unnecessary. Why don't we focus our time on the millions of children starving in third world countries or the already crowded orphanages in England? Not to mention, who's to say the fat isn't baby fat? Some children are just naturally thicker due to their genes. I think England's attention needed to be reverted to the pre- existing orphans! This being said, I think people should look into adoption! Check out my blog for more information and a story of one family's journey to adopting!

https://cromesburg19.wordpress.com/