Posted by Scott David Stewart on Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Fast food is often the culprit in childhood obesity.
12% of Ohio’s third-graders are obese. In October, Ohio removed an obese child from his parent’s custody, a first in that state’s foster care history. “Medical neglect” was cited as the reason why Cuyahoga County’s Children and Family Services removed an eight-year-old morbidly obese boy from his parent’s home. The third-grader weighed in at over 215 pounds when the state took control over child custody.
How Much Should an Eight-Year-Old Boy Weigh?
The more typical weight for a boy of that age would have been somewhere around 60 pounds. Be mindful, however, that there is no ideal weight for an eight-year-old child; it depends more on the individual child’s height and body composition. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s individual growth chart puts the 50th weight-for-age percentile for boys age eight at between 50-60 pounds. The CDC’s body mass index for eight year old boys in the 50th percentile is about 15.5 kg/m2. Based on CDC data, and common sense, no average eight-year-old boy should weigh anywhere near the 200-pound mark.
The Cleveland Heights mother in this child neglect case was blamed for not remedying her son’s weight condition. Ohio’s caseworkers had worked with the mother for over a year and a half on the how-to’s of a healthy lifestyle before seeking a Court Order to remove the child from her custody. Cuyahoga County administrator, Patricia Rideout, indicated the agency’s level of frustration with the situation: “We have worked very hard with this family for 20 months before it got to this point.” The mother was determined to be medically neglectful of her child. The medical neglect she was accused of, failure to address childhood obesity, was determined to increase the child’s potential for serious diseases later in life, namely diabetes and hypertension. The state acted now to prevent a potential medical problem that could occur sometime in the future.
Is that sufficient grounds to remove a child from his parent’s custody? What was the imminent danger that the child was in? Does the state have a legal right to remove a child from his home on the mere potential of some future disease? Does this state action interfere with the parent’s constitutionally protected right to rear her child? These are difficult questions to answer. You may want to read our previous post on the Child Custody Debate: State Intervention to Remove Obese Children from Their Homes?
This Child Already Has Health Problems Related to Obesity.
The Ohio child that Cleveland area social workers placed into foster care has a medical condition known as sleep apnea. He uses a machine to monitor his breathing. Sleep apnea can be related to obesity in children, as well as in adults. When the mother took her child to the hospital for medical care because he was having difficulties breathing, the authorities were notified, became involved in the family’s life, and eventually placed the child into foster care.
Ohio Mother Fights to Regain Child Custody.
Removing a child from the care, custody, and control of a parent requires a Court Order and the mother is fighting the state’s decision. Defense counsel for the parent, Sam Amata, is a public defender who will be challenging the Court’s decision to allow placement of the child in foster care. Amata argues that there was no “imminent danger” – the standard required for the state’s removal of a child from the parent’s custody. Defense attorney Amata stated clearly that, “[w]e don’t feel there’s that kind of requisite danger” involved in this case.
“They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don’t love my child,” said the boy’s mother. “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.”
How will this change of custody effect him emotionally and scholastically, both presently and in the future? Her son is currently an honor roll student in the third grade, something any parent would be proud of and be granted bragging rights to. Should the child’s potential for future disease be the decisive factor controlling how a child is raised and by whom?
Child custody issues are always taken seriously by the Scottsdale, Arizona, divorce attorneys at the Law Offices of Scott David Stewart. We understand the challenges that our clients face today and, as your divorce lawyers, we work diligently to obtain the best possible results for you and for your family.
Source:
AP: Ohio Puts 200-Pound Third-Grader in Foster Care
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