Eight yr. old boy 218lb...

I read in Tuesday's Sun an article about an eight year old boy in London who weighs 218lbs.  The British government was considering taking the boy away from his mother and into protective custody because this is such a dangerous situation for the boy.  The family has repeatedly failed to attend appointments with nurses, nutritionists and social workers.

Perhaps I'm a bit harsh, but I really do think that allowing an eight year old to hit 218lbs is a form of abuse.  The average weight for a child that age is 55lbs.  The strain on the heart alone to move almost four times the mass is a serious medical risk. 

The update today says that they've decided to let him stay with his mother, providing the mother follows dietary restrictions and advice of healthcare professionals.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?  Is childhood obesity a form of abuse?  What, if anything, should the government or social services do about obese children?

well, I can understand from the parent's point of view. mothers don't like to see their children hungry. that's part of the reason why I can't lose weight. my mother keeps all the unhealthy food in the house despite the fact that i'm overweight. like my mothere, that boy's mother will give everything to her son to make him happy. the parent is aware tht the son is oberweight but the fact that he is her son, it is hard to say no.

I think it's a form of abuse. I think not being educated on the dangers of obesity is putting a child at risk, just as not feeding them is a risk. Unfortunately, it's not neglecting him. He is being fed. And his mother is probably over-nurturing.

There are so many parents that aren't educated on how to feed there children that they let them live off of whatever they want. Also these parents let them eat mayonaise on breaded deep fried cheese because that's all the kid will eat and the parents don't realize that if they take that away their kids will eat what is available when they get hungry. Especially at 8.

if the mother's being overnurturing, she's overnurturing him literally to death.  putting the body through that much physical stress during a younger child's deveopment will deliver serious complications later in his life.  granted that there is a later to be had.

I am not sure this is actualy abuse, or neglect.  The mother is neglecting the health and welfare of the child by bending to his will with respect to food and inactivity. 

Regardless of which term is settled upon to describe the situation we can all agree that it is unacceptable and the Mum and her young lad, need guidance and support in the long term.  As we know here, as we fight on our own journies to better health and fitness, we are in for the long haul.

~Verve

I seen this on the news and I was sickened. Why would you put an eight year old boy on tv and call him obese? For the rest of his life he is going to be known as the fat kid on tv. People are cruel enough without having a serious issue be a nation wide story. Image what the kids will say at school. Poor kid. This is not something that should be a public affair.

When I see how mainstream America feeds their children I am appalled.  All the processed prepackaged foods that kids eat.  I'm not saying that my kids don't eat some, but I sure don't cook dh and myself a meal and then open up a Gerbers Graduates for the kid, we all eat what I cook starting at about 8 or 9 months.  IMO that is a large part of the problem, that and inactivity.

I do have a son who is overweight though, even with my food nazi ways, so some of it is genetic IMO.  My other 3 are all underweight, go figure.

Some interesting opinions.  Another perspective is that if this woman was giving her son a pill or some sort of a specific product that gave the boy hypertension, increased his cardiac workload to levels that his still developing heart would have troubles maintaining and increased his risk for diabetes... and then made him carry a backpack each day that was almost four times his own weight (assuming the average weight of an 8yr old is 55lbs), putting stress and strain on joints and developing bones... do you think that would be considered abuse?  Because, as I see it, this is exactly what this woman is doing.  She gives him an excess of junkfood, refusing to take it out of her house or limit his consumption of it and these are the effects of an obesity level that high.

I am an avid backcountry camper.  They recommend that you carry only 1/3 of your ideal body weight to protect your joints and bones.  That would mean that this kid should only carry about 18lbs.  Yet he carries 163lbs.  I sure wouldn't want that burden.    To give another perspective, if your average 30yr old was at the same degree of obesity, he would weigh 693lbs (based on the average of 175lbs). 

Just being Devil's advocate here...  hope I'm not treading on toes

I agree with you vancouver -- it is definite abuse.

It definitely is going to be a struggle getting that boy down to a healthy weight, and I'm not sure that the parents will be able to handle it, since the behavior patterns are so set. 

But, it's just not the parents to blame -- my gosh, take a look at what they are serving in our schools!!!!

As a mother of two young girls, I can definitely say that letting your child become morbidly obese is abuse!!!  At this age it's the parents who control what type of food gets bought.  I think in today's world it's very hard to feed your kids healthy foods and ensure that they have enough exercise because all the advertising, the school lunches and availability of unhealthy snacks.  My girls always want the sugary cereal with the Cinderella on the box, of course, but it's up to me wheather I buy it or not.

It's not easy, esp. because I'm afraid to be too restrictive and controlling about what they eat; I'm afraid that may lead to ED in the future so I try to encourage the healthy aspect of foods and create deserts that at least use real ingridients instead of a bunch of chemicals saturated in food dye and high fructose corn syrup.

Anyway, does anybody know what the boy's mother looks like?  Sometimes the mother's obsession with food causes her to overfeed her kids;  I think there is probably something psychologically wrong w/ the mom.  Maybe it's Munchausen by Proxy, maybe she thinks that if her kid is so obese, he'll stay with her forever b/c he want have any friends or energy to do anything for himself and she'll get to take care of him.  Who knows, it's pretty sad.  There is one medical condition, Prader Willy dz, that will cause children to eat non-stop but I think the doctors seeing him would have made that diagnosis if that was it.

If any of you have any good ideas as to how to ensure good nutrition and healthy body image in young girls pls let me know.

I think they should take the kid away; it IS abuse.

Then again, I'm one of those nutcases that thinks that feeding kids HFCS or trans fats or Lunchables or microwave dinners or Kool-Aid or soda (etc. etc. etc.) is abuse too.  *shrug*

I read about that case. the mother said, he would steal food and hide it, and always eats way more than the others.

She also said he had other issues, taht make me wonder if they ever had the kid checked for Prader-Willi. a relatively rare genetic disorder, where among manyh other complex issues, they are also missing a key somethign that allows them to register teh sensation of being full, so they are literally always hungry.

It may not be an issue,but he fits the description, in which case he really need medical help and professinal intervention or he coudl litereally eat himself to death.

Either way he definately needs help, or he is in for a miserable future.

Prader Willi is a terrible disease... I was a caregiver for two young gentlemen who have it... We literally had to keep the kitchen locked, their bedrooms locked, they have to be monitored 24/7 and every day we had to do a complete inspection of their rooms and all their clothes to make sure they weren't hiding food anywhere.

I also agree that overfeeding your child is a form of abuse. Kids will whine and cry for all sorts of stuff that's bad for them, but it's your responsibility as a parent to know when to say no and to be firm with it. God, I can just imagine how screwed up I'd be if my parents had been bleeding hearts and given me everything my little heart desired.

I think it's good that this kind of thing is getting media attention... maybe it will save a few thousand kids. If you've ever watched any daytime talk shows you know it's not like this is an isolated incident. Especially in North America, childhood obesity is practically an epidemic!

I don't think the average weight for a 8 year old is 55 lbs.  I think that is very low..It all depends on their build and height.  Now the boy who is 218  is obviously overweight but I don't think you can generalize on kids weight and health.