Social Workers Remove Newborn from Obese Mom

MLR1SN

Total BS.
Don't remove the kids.
If the government wanted to actual step in and HELP, they would take care of the MOM, not remove the kids.

Amen! I don't agree with that in all cases but in this one - definitely!
:flowerforyou:

AGREED!

leavinglasvegas

"The parents originally contacted social workers themselves to seek help with managing their (six) children, one of whom has developmental problems. At that time they had a toddler who weighed 4 stone (almost 60 pounds) and a 13-year-old boy who weighed more than 16 stone (over 220)...She has already had the youngest of her six children, aged 3 and 4, removed from her care...The married couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were warned last year that that they had to bring their six children’s weight under control."

Do you not think the parents in this case are guilty of neglectful parenting? I do. If someone told me that I was going to lose my children if I didn't start feeding them properly, I think I would get my butt in gear and start taking care of my kids. Feeding too much is, in my opinion, just as bad as feeding too little.

Her children weren't removed because SHE is obese, they were removed because she isn't parenting them properly.

I soooo agree with you Brenda! I came from a family that was obese....BY CHOICE.....To this day I feel that my mother had no business having children!
Out of 4 of us I was anorexic at 5 and the other 3 morbidly obese by age 9. Back then the doctor said that fat was in our genes and I was just a stubborn child. That was a supposedly educated man, degrees and everything! We drank soda daily, and my first real homecooked meal was when I spent Thanksgiving at my fiances house when I was 21. I never knew that real food didn't come from a box.

I understand the outrage that someone could step in and take your kids for being fat, but that is not the case. I totally agree that it is child abuse to allow your children to become obese, I mean come ON! 220 pounds at 13? That is totally out of control for something that IS controlable.
I'm overweight, but I teach my daughter healthy habits. I also take her for a physical every year, something most parents I know don't bother with. Its the little things that count when it comes to things like this. I have alot of friends who are social workers, people really don't understand what they take into consideration and how many oppurtunities they give the parents before they step in and remove a child, let alone 6 children, from thier homes.
Just my opinion.

mrsyac2

I had to look up stone/pound conversion. The mother weighed 322lb before getting pregnant. Her 13 year old was 222 lb and she had a 64 lb toddler.

The story is so sad on several levels... what kind of emotional trauma her kids must be going through. I don't feel the government has any business taking her kids away. Obviously the family needs some kind of education regarding healthy eating, but I really don't think the government should even be that involved. It's sad and scary that it can happen.

a 64lb toddler I am sorry that is neglect.

Maybe thats how the government saw it neglect of health.

who knows-

But I have seen heavier women come into my job that 322lbs- the sad thing is being obese and pregnant isn't good for you or the baby- Being too big makes it harder to monitor the baby and for the mother to even feel it. It also makes it harder for the sonographers to get a ultrasound.

mrsyac2

Total BS.
Don't remove the kids.
If the government wanted to actual step in and HELP, they would take care of the MOM, not remove the kids.

Amen! I don't agree with that in all cases but in this one - definitely!
:flowerforyou:

AGREED!

No the government shouldn't take care of the MOM- She needs to take care of herself and her kids of all things

thecowgirl72

I "hate" to say this, but I tend to agree w/ the social workers. I am obese (5'-0", 162 lbs) but I don't have children "yet"? I do not want children until I am at a healthy weight level (hopefully b4 I'm 90).

My cousin and her husband recently adopted a newborn baby boy. They are both severely overweight and had a difficult time getting approval for a child. People are already worried and comment that their boy is getting a little big. I don't know what to say .... I wish and pray for the best.

I pray for this family and I hope they will all come together forever.

leavinglasvegas

Honestly, I hope they do decide that... smoking around your children is disgusting and should be punished... maybe not by having your children taken away, yes that would be harsh... but so is putting cchildren through that kind of abuse. The other day I saw a mother of three smoking her brains out while driving her car. We were stopped at a red light and I saw the children in the car windows closed and all.

O yes! I'm all for this one too!

It disgusts me that people are so selfish that they do not care that their destructive behaviour is hurting someone else. If you want to destroy your lungs or eat youself into oblivion fine, but don't do it around me. And most certainly do not do it to or around a living creature that does not yet understand fully the damage that is occuring!

My friend smoked through her pregnancy. Her son was born premature and with chronic bronchitis. He had to have at least 2 breathing treatments every day of his little life! And guess what, she only smoked outside when the weather was nice. When it was too cold, she made HIM leave the room. I caught her giving him a freaking breathing treatmeant WHILE smoking a cigarette! He WAS taken away from her! THANK GOD! And she is NOT my friend anymore! I lost every ounce of respect I ever had for her.:mad:

mommared53

Wow. How the heck did Obama win the election with so many ultra conservatives around here. *wink*

This is Orwellian in nature, nothing less. But I guess I'm in the minority thinking that taking the children instead of seeking to solve the problem is no solution at all.

Wow. Honestly baffled.

I'm with you. And I'm in no way to blame for Obama getting elected. :bigsmile:

BamaRose0107

I just read the story myself. What gets me is that the parents were warned last year and told that they had to get the childrens weight undercontrol. Right or wrong if that was me I would have done everything in my power to help my kids get healthy. Its not like this was a sudden thing they had notice.

leavinglasvegas

And:

" The council spent £114,000 on "minders" to ensure they were eating properly."

The baby has been returned to the family. This is what the father said:

"We haven't always agreed with social workers and not always cooperated so we've had to put our differences aside for the sake of our children."

They DID give them what they needed to control the situation and a very generous amount of time to do so. The father admitted ^^^^^^^ right there, they did not always cooperate.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/tayside/132069-newborn-baby-returned-to-overweight-dundee-couple/

thumper44

MARCH 2008: Family claim they are told their six children could be put into care because they are overweight. They say social workers have warned they will intervene if three of the youngsters – including a 12-year-old boy who weighs 16 stone – do not lose weight within three months. His sister, 11, weighs 12st and a four-year-old sister weighs 4st.

YESTERDAY: Children’s Panel decide the three youngsters still living at home should go into care.

These were also the weights that were mentioned of the kids 1.5 years ago.
How much more weight did they gain in 1.5 years.

Wecandothis

MPF - striking a blow for Fascism, the world over!!!

mrd232

Well I suppose if we really wanted to destroy fascism, we could...

1. Legalize prostitution
2. Legalize drugs
3. Eliminate social services
4. Eliminate subsidies
5. Toss the USDA...

You know...sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, and rampant capitalism that would make Friedman proud.

One person may disagree about kids being removed from parents. I disagree about the government mandating "healthy eating" plans in schools. Who's right and who's wrong?

mommared53

I say let the government run the government, let the parents run their families! We're their boss, they're not our boss!

thecowgirl72

I completely agree w/ you/. Where will they all go from here? My mom is heavy and so am I and my sister. Of course, dad is the skinny one. I wish I could have followed in his steps. Well, there is lots o' time left!

BrendaLee

My daughter has this gorgeous little friend, she's 14, and her mother has let her balloon to well over 200 pounds. I've seen the mom in action giving in to her daughter from the time she was a baby so she wouldn't be "difficult" and cry for cookies and chips. The mother's not even that large of a woman. I, on the other hand, have weighed around 300 pounds for most of my daughter's life, raised her alone, and have managed to keep her weight in a good range. She would stuff herself every day if I let her, but I'm always there...which may drive her crazy, but she also thanks me for not letting her become obese, because she sees how easily it could happen.

It's a real struggle when you have a child that loves to eat...and eat lots, but you have to be the bad guy and say no- often. Sure, it's more fun to see our children smiling as they dunk their cookies into chocolate milk, but it's not fun to see a child come home from school crying because she was called fat. I lived that, and it wasn't a fun life. I would have much preferred my mother tell me no to the cookies and chocolate bars and chips and everything else so I would have had a better childhood/ teenage years, and a much better school experience- not to mention a better life since then.

Sometimes I think a fat mother makes the BEST mother because we know the struggles of life as a fat person, but we have to be willing to monitor our kids and say no even though it's not always the easiest way of doing things.

amandadaisylotus

Okay so I've seen a lot of people on here arguing their sides with the "I'm fat and I have kids so should I get them taken away from me" arguments. You all either have children or had a parent who was obese and are outraged at this.

I was a kid who was shuffled in and out and in and out of foster care here in the states. For good, real reasons. I know what it's like to be taken from your mother. I know what it's like to watch a parent figure crying in the street watching the car you're in drive away.

At the same time, I know that each and every time I was taken away it was for the best. I'm not saying it didn't really mess me up, I'm not saying I don't need therapy. But there are times that the state needs to step in for one reason or another. From reading ALL of the posts here and the story I agree that the children should have been removed. The parents were warned and they did not cooperate. They did not do what was needed for their children's health. If this story was about a couple with a child who needed medicine, and were refusing to get it for them despite being given all the financial assistance they needed, we'd be waving our protesting signs and ranting that they don't deserve to have their children if they won't do everything EVERYTHING in their power to make sure that the child can live a happy HEALTHY life.

Also, my weight problem started when I was 10 years old. I became obese at 10 years old because of who I was living with. Because she was feeding me super sized value meals and if I didn't eat more than two plates of food at the all you can eat buffet, I got in trouble and yelled at that I wasn't getting their money's worth.

At the same time her boyfriend was emotionally abusing me about my weight, causing me to become more depressed and binge eat when no one was home to watch me. I weighed 245 pounds at 14 years old, at 5'2".

Eventually I was taken away from them because the emotional abuse didn't stop there.

But I've been struggling with my weight ever since, and it's taken a hell of a lot more adjusting to get myself ready to lose weight than it has understanding that sometimes Mommies and Daddies don't know what to do I can't stay with them anymore.

arewethereyet

Okay so I've seen a lot of people on here arguing their sides with the "I'm fat and I have kids so should I get them taken away from me" arguments. You all either have children or had a parent who was obese and are outraged at this.

I was a kid who was shuffled in and out and in and out of foster care here in the states. For good, real reasons. I know what it's like to be taken from your mother. I know what it's like to watch a parent figure crying in the street watching the car you're in drive away.

At the same time, I know that each and every time I was taken away it was for the best. I'm not saying it didn't really mess me up, I'm not saying I don't need therapy. But there are times that the state needs to step in for one reason or another. From reading ALL of the posts here and the story I agree that the children should have been removed. The parents were warned and they did not cooperate. They did not do what was needed for their children's health. If this story was about a couple with a child who needed medicine, and were refusing to get it for them despite being given all the financial assistance they needed, we'd be waving our protesting signs and ranting that they don't deserve to have their children if they won't do everything EVERYTHING in their power to make sure that the child can live a happy HEALTHY life.

Also, my weight problem started when I was 10 years old. I became obese at 10 years old because of who I was living with. Because she was feeding me super sized value meals and if I didn't eat more than two plates of food at the all you can eat buffet, I got in trouble and yelled at that I wasn't getting their money's worth.

At the same time her boyfriend was emotionally abusing me about my weight, causing me to become more depressed and binge eat when no one was home to watch me. I weighed 245 pounds at 14 years old, at 5'2".

Eventually I was taken away from them because the emotional abuse didn't stop there.

But I've been struggling with my weight ever since, and it's taken a hell of a lot more adjusting to get myself ready to lose weight than it has understanding that sometimes Mommies and Daddies don't know what to do I can't stay with them anymore.

:brokenheart: Thank you for the child's point of view. I am sorry you have endured this struggle in your life. You are an intelligent, fun young lady and I enjoy your posts.
WOOT on the 35 pounds!!:flowerforyou:

happylittlebird

I do think it is child abuse to overfeed a child to the point of extreme obesity, but lacking other factors of abuse, it seems unbelievably cruel to remove a newborn from a mother or children from their mother.