Ohio puts 200-pound third-grader in foster care

[CHICANA]

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=8446740
To get back to the subject at hand, this article says that even though an average 8 year old is 60 pounds, and 200 (which is likely a rounded number, either up or down) is severely obese, a target weight of 150 would help him with the sleep apnea (if in fact that SA is related to his weight, which it might or might not be. But that is still nearly double what he should weigh, so those medical issues which could arise later would still be at nearly the same risk of occurring.

In fact, how are they sure the weight is causing the apnea, as emerging studies are showing a reverse link, that people with sleep apnea of more than 15 episodes a night are more likely to be obese.


and
Some of those children appear to have the deck stacked against them genetically, she says. "They are resistant to treatment. I've seen it. Parents can be doing everything correctly, and the child's weight won't budge. It may be virtually impossible for the kids to resist food. They are constantly putting food in their mouth to feel satiated.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/288563/28/Its-an-uphill-climb-for-obese-kids-and-their-parents

So, watch it, because before long, the state could be stepping in to take children over genetic anomalies that parents have absolutely no control over and neither does the child.


and

For more than 20 months, the county officials have been working with the boy’s family so they could bring down his weight and improve his health but, they could not and blamed his mother for it.
http://topnews.net.nz/content/220409-mother-wants-200-pound-son-s-custody-back
Yeah, if they were all working together, didn't they all fail? The county as well as the parents? So, why does the country get to take him when they failed just as hard as the family?

Good point... They need to fire/cut funding to the agency/organization that failed to help him lose weight.

 

[AnaTeresa]

I'm not saying to ignore the body cues, quite the opposite, learn what they actually mean.

For example using your iron story, if you crave 'meat" then you are obviously low on iron. But what if you don't realize that craving. You just think you are hungry. So you eat donuts. But you are not "hungry" you are actually craving iron, so the hunger doesn't go away. This is part of why I said sometimes kids mistake thirst for hunger.

I think we're basically on the same page.

I think we are, too. Seems we were both saying close to the same thing, but just talking past each other there for a bit.

 

[TorisMom003]

The parents live with the child (or did) for the majority of the day. The agency does not live in the home, therefore they can not be responsible for what happens behind closed doors. If the parents agreed to follow a certain plan, did not do so, and the child was taken from the home then how is it the agencies fault? I suppose that instead of taking the child out of the home that a person employed by the agency should have moved in?

Child abuse is child abuse IMO period. Doesn't matter if it is mental, physical, verbal, whatever. If a child at 8 years old weighs 200 lbs that is abuse. I am 39 years old and have never in my life weighed 200 lbs. I can only imagine what kind of pain that child is suffering through. Hurt back, bad knees, sore muscles, etc.......all because of the added weight that the child is carrying.

IMO I am thankful that CPS stepped in and removed the child from the home. Perhaps now they (CPS and the doctors) can find out exactly what is going on and help this child.

MOO

 

[mywarmbluefleece]

I just want to chime in here and say that Prader Willi Syndrome is not a metabolic disorder, it's a genetic condition. Therefore, if this child was tested for metabolic conditions PWS would not show. The diagnosis for PWS requires DNA testing, and sometimes complex DNA testing.

My daughter was born with PWS. She is 6.5 years old. She is healthy, slim, and thriving and I know I may be sensitive, but I take offense to someone saying it's a "horrible syndrome". :/

I hope this guy will get the appropriate testing so PWS can be ruled out.

I am sorry that I offended you. I didn't mean to. The student I had with it was hungry all the time and had broken down doors and refrigerators to get food. She was ALWAYS hungry, and it was all she thought about. I know syndromes are different in every kid, but I couldn't imagine being so hungry I had to tear down doors. While the syndrome was horrible, she was not a horrible person. I realize your daughter is affected differently.

 

[OkGrace]

The family of the child in my story, back a few pages, was receiving govt benefits because of the child's obesity related health problems. In this case, if the kid loses weight and improves her health, the family loses money. Not saying that was their motivation for not helping her (ok actually I am, as did the doctors and the fraud alert put on their case).

Just saying.

I know of a person like this. She created the situation with her child. I am certain that benefits (and as she is overweight herself, she likes to note that her daughter is MUCH larger) are her motivation. She has lived off of the govt her entire adult life and will continue. Her daughter is morbidly obese, I do not think she can be weighed on a scale in dr's office.
I have always felt bad for the daughter and tried to be somewhat involved in her life because she has no one but her mother, who is a poor example as a parent.
She sits on internet all day and well eats....
I have seen her posting trying to get her mother even more freebies :money, cell phone etc.
Furniture breaks, she cannot bathe herself well, using the bathroom is an ordeal etc etc etc. It is a truly pathetic situation. 20years old and most likely will be dead by 30.

 

[Donjeta]

I would actually like to see the nutritionists and other helpers "move in".

Well, not as such, but develop residential type "food rehab" programs for families. The whole family could spend a few days at a time somewhere that they serve healthy food and go grocery shopping with a nutritionist and practice preparing healthy home meals together. Go to restaurants together and make healthy choices. Keep food diaries and learn about the importance of good nutrition to health. When they return to home they could send copies of the grocery receipts or videotapes of their meals together or photos of the contents of their fridge and have them evaluated by the nutritionist. Follow-up weekends etc.

The treatment would IMO often have to include some therapeutic intervention or referrals elsewhere, because I think that sometimes the overeating is a symptom of something else.


If foster care is the answer it's just the answer for the child's problems but I think quite often the whole family would benefit from some help.
I know it would cost a lot but maybe some of the cost could be saved in health care.

 

[oh_gal]

The child will live with his uncle in Columbus:

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/lo...boy-who-weighed-200-pounds-to-live-with-uncle

 

[AnaTeresa]

The judge said the boy’s weight has dropped to 192 pounds while he’s been in foster care for two months. The boy did not appear in court.

http://www.cantonrep.com/ohio/x1466797639/200-pound-third-grader-sent-to-live-with-uncle

Mary Louise Madigan, speaking for the Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services agency that sought foster care for the boy over weight-related health issues, said having the uncle caring for the boy was part of the county's goal of getting him to a healthy weight and back with his mother.

"He's in a least restrictive placement with a family member and I think that's what the court was looking at," she said.

http://hosted2.ap.org/OHCOL/8ef5320...rd-Grader/id-adee454e95bb4f7192e056867ff3f5df

Obviously he can lose the weight - so it's not a metabolic issue at all. Glad he's being placed with an uncle, but even more glad that his health is being addressed.

 

[Stoshie]

He is going back home...

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/02/obese_boy_returns_home_after_d.html

 

[AnaTeresa]

Hopefully his mother will have made the changes necessary to keep up with his progress, or at least hold steady where things are. It would be terrible for this scenario to repeat again in a year, when he has put on the weight again and then some.

 

[Donjeta]

An obese 9-year-old who lost 50 pounds after being removed from his home in Ohio is now returning to be with his mother, but the move is getting a lot of attention across the internet Thursday.

Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/now/should-obese-children-be-removed-from-homes#ixzz1v4qHJctq

http://www.parenting.com/blogs/show...ting/obese-9-year-old-loses-50lbs-return-home

While living with his uncle, the boy visited the gym three nights a week for the past four months, and upon his return home, the local YMCA gifted memberships to him and his mother. He has also been encouraged to continue swimming and playing basketball—other hobbies he has adopted since his time away.
Although the boy was under protective supervision since returning to his mother in March, that mandate was recently lifted. Social service workers plan to check in on the boy regularly and have also offered him and his mother nutritional and health counseling.