A 200 Pound 8-Year-Old Was Taken Away From His Mom

Social workers say his mom didn’t do enough to control his weight — so they put him in foster care!

A Cleveland Heights, Ohio third grader was taken from his home after he weighed 218 pounds — that’s nearly four of his peers, according to The Daily Mail!

The Department of Children and Family Services said the mother wasn’t doing enough to control the weight of her son, so they put him in foster care. And they are even considering getting him a personal trainer!

To put it in perspective, the average weight for an 8-year-old, according to The Daily Mail, is 57 pounds!

“This child’s problem was so severe that we had to take custody,” Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for DCFS told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The mother, who was unidentified, told the paper she was working really hard to get him to shed weight: “Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle change, and they are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying.”

At what point does childhood obesity become child abuse or neglect? Do you think social workers were right to put him in foster care, or were they overreacting? Tell us your thoughts!

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How do any of you judgemental people know anything about this case? There is so many reasons why people gain weight. A lot of them being medical reasons and genetics. Healthy food is not cheap and a lot of people don’t have the funds to buy all of the healthy food we need. Would you rather the kid be starving because they can’t buy food for him? I don’t think so. Get it through your heads that it’s not as easy as you think to lose weight! It is a long and hard road.

This is abuse. The mother is not giving this boy a healthy knowledge of foods, he is being stuffed with processed crap filled with preserved. Over weight or not no one should eat that. The boy now has a chance to get help and be taken care of properly. The mother needs classes on how to learn how to feed the child properly.

So will the foster parents take care of the problem? I hope they have a “follow-up” on this story to see how much weight this boy will lose in 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, a year . . . ..
We’ll see if they are miracle workers.
I understand the problem this child has, and his future looks grim. His weight will affect every aspect of his life, he will be bullied and teased, will he be able to get a job, will he find someone to love him enough to marry, have children . . .. finding clothes to fit, will be a constant problem, and he will definitely put on more weight, and possibly be home bound … and you know the rest of the story.
Someone needs to get a grip on this boy, by putting him on a strict, healthy diet, a strict exercise program and get him away from the TV, computers, electronic games and spend most of his time outside, as most of our children need to do. I’m sure “fast foods” are in this picture also.
However, take a look at how many “adults” are way out of control, it’s disgusting to see all the huge, fat Americans.

Let me share MY story.
I have been overweight forever. Seriously, forever. I’ve been on diets since age 6, I played soccer, softball, and I was outside constantly! We didn’t have wii’s back then. When I was 10 I weighed 200-something pounds, in fourth grade. The doctors could not FIND anything wrong with me. They blamed my mother…even though I was eating the diet foods THEY said to eat and exercising was never a problem. Sometimes there is no explanation. Thank God I wasn’t taken away from my mother though…she was the only person I had. Doctors don’t know everything, they cannot find every cure to every problem, nor every cause. Not saying that is the case with this boy, but don’t be so judgemental about the mother. It’s not always the parent’s fault.

You are fat because you eat too many calories. 3500 unused calories = 1 pound of fat. “Diet foods” is something that fat people use because they like to eat chips so they eat “diet foods” in between the fatty foods they’d normally eat. So until you scientifically prove that there is ANY OTHER WAY TO CREATE MASS THAN TO PROVIDE MASS (which would make you a bajillionaire!!!) you should really really REALLY see a therapist, nutritionist, and personal trainer. Not only that but you should have your fridge and cubbords raided because you obviously have processed foods in your house and eat fast food.

Here’s my story. I was underweight because I didn’t eat much as all as a kid. I was overweight because my family finally had the money to feed me and I ate too much. Now I eat a normal diet (with very little activity) and am at an average weight.

So I’ve been there done that and it’s as easy as not eating like a fat person.

There are many medical reasons that can cause a kid to gain weight even if they eat healthy and exercise lots. Failing Thyroid is one cause. Abnormal digestion is another. Is body could be storing the energy and not using it properly. There’s a few more but its not always the food keep that in mind people. Some research needs to be done before things like this happen. There is nothing in any of these news reports that state the child was scene by a doctor to see if maybe he is sick. Sounds like me they just assumed that he was being neglected.

Some social services people are just plain stupid. I was taken from my moms home when i was 7 and promptly put back there 1 month later because they were wrong in taking us. They told my mom she wasn’t raising us propely. Well fact be told they were wrong we had the whole social aid system looked at here in alberta because some people are just plain stupid.

So please quit blaming the mother and think about other possibilites….. and yes it could still be the mothers fault but i see no proof of that. I was 190lbs at age 10 and no i didn’t eat junk food we couldn’t afford it and i was only allowed 3 meals aday… so HEAVEN FORBID i was a happy young boy.

That is the worst comment I have ever heard. Who are you to judge someone else! I dont know how you look in the mirror with an attitude like that. Only god can judge.

Well said

Yes, I think they should have taken him away. The parents control the food, there is no reason he shouldn’t have been able to lose weight(unless he has a medical problem, in which case like someone said, should be looked into) My son is 7 1/2 and weighs 52 lbs. I can’t even imagine a child that young having to carry all that extra weight on them. How sad!

Disgusting. Lock that mother away!

If the parent isn’t fixing the situation then yes it’s abuse. He’s 8 his parents should be controlling the food he eats and not giving him so much fat processed foods ( unless their is a medical issue for the weight gain but then they should be looking at correcting the medical issue. For comparison my son is 8 and 70 pounds he’s a good 5-6 inches taller then most of his classmates.

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An 8-Year-Old Was Taken Away From His Mom Because He Weighs Over 200 Pounds

Social workers say his mom didn’t do enough to control his weight — so they put him in foster care!

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