200# 8 yr old = ABUSE

I don't have children, so I can't say for sure what I'd do. But I'm fairly sure I'd work to keep my children active. But if the mother didn't know any better, although still abuse at a certain level, it wasn't intentional. Sometimes people let love get the better of them, when their children cry or need cheering up, and they want certain foods, or they don't want to exercise. I'm just wary of this long before I get children, so hiking and sports will be a natural part of their life.

This story was near Cleveland, Ohio. I am following it with interest. I agree that a 200 pound 8 y/o is unreal. There is more to this story though. I have read that the mother was advised and given classes to help, doctor's appts. to keep track of what he is eating and nutrition counseling. She was unable to make it to all of the appts. due to working and lack of transportation. When the county seized the child and placed him in foster care, the foster mother was also unable to keep all all of his appts, so they arranged for transportation, additional counseling for the boy and extra financial help to feed this boy better, more nutritionally sound food.

My question is: Why didn't the county help the MOTHER do this? There is a real problem here and I'm not saying the mother even tried her best. She may just be uneducated about what to do. Do I think this is right to remove the child from the parent? No. Do I think he needed an intervention? YES. Like chicky89 said, the mother seemed unconcerned that this child is in great danger. I cannot understand how folks can let something like this go on and on. The county was trying to help her and she didn't do much to help her own son. Shameful.

I agree that the blame of this lies on the parents. I have an 8 yr old, who has been skinny since he was born. Always healthy, but just so thin. At times I think of ways I can fatten him up. The thing is he does eat healthy. Sure I let him have treats here and there, he's a kid, it's part of childhood. Denying him sweets would only make him want them more. We've all learned that with our own journey to lose weight. But, he knows when it's snack time what is available to eat. More importantly, he knows how important it is to balance what he eats. If he wants a candy, he'll eat some fruit or veggie first. He always reaches for the carrots, they're his favorite. Anyways, I'm off track here. What I meant to say is that kids have a naturally high metabolism that I envy. Unless sabatoged by too much tv watching or game playing, kids will run around and burn off their food on their own. To be that big at such a young age( that's how much I weigh now!), there has to be some extreme circumstances. More likely it's because they are not taught the right things to eat, indulged too much, and not encouraged to get out and get some healthy exercise. Healthy food really doesn't have to be that expensive. I use Bountiful Baskets to get my produce and that's really affordable. Also, if parents cook more at home instead of getting fast food all the time, it really does save money. I've been saving at least $100 each month since starting to eat healthier. Eating cheap junk is just a cheap excuse. I hope this child gets help quick and has a second chance to get things right. And hopefully the mom wakes up, realizes her mistake and learns how to do it right too!

I know its not the same thing but I started gaining weight when I was 6 years ild - not sure how much I weighed.
Over the years it got worse.MY mother did nothing to help.She continued buying treats,She did nothing to help or encourage me. she even went as far as telling me how fat I looked when I hit puberty.
She was always a skinny women so surely she must of known the right things to eat and what exercise would be beneficial. so why didnt she do anything? at 26 years old I'm still fighting to get rid of the weight but its proving rather difficult.

I believe this child did need to be removed from the home. If it's the one I read about there were other children in the home and they were not removed. The county, doctors and nutritionists worked with the family over a year and the child continued to gain weight. The mother seemed very careless in her assessment of the situation. I am an Early Childhood Special Education teacher and believe that child would definately have motor delays as a result of his weight. I have a hard time moving around and being active when I weight 235 at 5'4". Imagine being a third grader and trying to do the things that third graders do in gym and on the playground at 4' foot tall. There is no way he can meet the benchmarks for his age group. It would likely impair his social interactions too. If you can't keep up with your friends its hard to have friends. Third-graders are busy active people as a whole. They aren't likely to slow down much for a peer who can't compete at their pace. That might lead to lower self-esteem, depression and other mental health issues as well. Think how you feel about yourself if you are overweight. Hopefull they can get this child's eating behaviors turned around and get the parents properly educated and retun him to his family.

I don't get where people say that it's cheaper to eat fast food than healthy food at home. My family of 5 (actually 6 but the baby doesn't get anything) went to McDonald's last night and it cost us $35!!!! I can make a meal at home with fresh or frozen vegetables for less than half of that - which is why we don't eat out but a couple times a month, it's ridiculously expensive.

And yes, I would consider the weight of this child abusive, but I have had a hard lesson in believing everything that is reported in the news. You hear one side of the story and they report it the way they want to in order to get ratings. They don't care if they report the actual truth of the situation.

200# 8 years old is truly horrible!!!! I do also believe it is a form of child abuse. How is an 8 year old suppose to know if the child is not taught how to eat healthy. What I want to know is where were his doctors?! didn't he go for yearly checkup's? I can not believe this child even got to be this large! Sad Sad Sad!

I've talked to one of my friends about this issue before. Her response is that, when you are a parent you want to make your child happy and sometimes parents go about this the wrong way. I guess some parents can't say no and don't realize the potential outcome.

I want my kids happy AND HEALTHY.... I have 4 children. At one time one of them was chunkier.... 75th% weight and we worked on it & cut out carbs @ dinner to help. She is now at a much better weight.

My son has been in the 98th percentile since birth and at 11 is a healthy (but yes, a tad chubby and tall) 140 lbs, 5'3" football playing sweetheart. We eat out extremely rarely and if we do its subway and I don't have junk or pop in the house. Some people are naturally padded, he would never ever take food without asking and I would never put a child on a diet/cut out carbs. He eats healthily and is active, I am sure once puberty hits the weight will fall off as it did with me at that age. Putting a slightly chunkier child on a diet will give them body/food issues I'm sure. I can't/wouldn't cut out carbs myself, therefore can't imagine doing that to my son.

I think that it is normal for children to have a little "baby fat" but to let your child get to 200 pds is wrong!! My kids eat all the time, most of the time it is healthy, but I do let them have treats to and none of them are obese or even overweight (they were all lucky enough to get their dads body type!!)so I can not imagine what or how much food that that child would of had to eat to weigh that much.

I agree with this, most of my sons friends are tiny and not chubby at all and eat way more then my son (little on the heavy side). some people just don't have genes on their sides!

._. Now I feel bad for once being a 200 pound eight-year-old.

I've talked to one of my friends about this issue before. Her response is that, when you are a parent you want to make your child happy and sometimes parents go about this the wrong way. I guess some parents can't say no and don't realize the potential outcome.

I want my kids happy AND HEALTHY.... I have 4 children. At one time one of them was chunkier.... 75th% weight and we worked on it & cut out carbs @ dinner to help. She is now at a much better weight.

My son has been in the 98th percentile since birth and at 11 is a healthy (but yes, a tad chubby and tall) 140 lbs, 5'3" football playing sweetheart. We eat out extremely rarely and if we do its subway and I don't have junk or pop in the house. Some people are naturally padded, he would never ever take food without asking and I would never put a child on a diet/cut out carbs. He eats healthily and is active, I am sure once puberty hits the weight will fall off as it did with me at that age. Putting a slightly chunkier child on a diet will give them body/food issues I'm sure. I can't/wouldn't cut out carbs myself, therefore can't imagine doing that to my son.

My 11 year old is exactly the same (5'4" and 145 lbs) - his doctor said that as long is his height/weight ratio was where it should be, he is fine. We also have him in every sport imaginable to keep him active and we limit his video games/tv time to an hour a day. We do have some unhealthy foods in the house, but my goal is to teach them to monitor and limit themselves so that when they are around that kind of food and we aren't they will be successful in eating right. But he has a cousin who is shorter than he is and much heavier and his parents just don't care. It's very sad.

Exactly, parents should do their part to teach them about healthy choices and keep them active. The very last thing I want is for my son to have an unhealthy relationship with food. Which is why I keep his weight a non-issue right now, I don't want him to have a complex. Some parents don't care though and yes, that is sad!