Overweight Children

[Venture]

The parents of a family of 6 from Dundee have been told that if they don't do something within three months to bring the weight of three of their children under control that social workers will remove them and their siblings into care. The children concerned are a 12 year old at 16 stone, an 11 year old at 12 stone and a 3 year old at 4 stone. Is this the right way to deal with the problem?

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=542358&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

[Bobinovich]

Definately OTT - if the authorities want to help then they can advise on nutritional eating, exercise, etc. but to threaten to take kids out of an otherwise normal family unit is ridiculous.

I've no doubt that the family GP has already voiced concerns and it really is up to the family to do something about it - maybe with the parents leading the way?

[changilass]

I would imagine Social Services would have done all they could to help and that this will be a last resort after possible months if not years of working with the family.

Having said that, the speed at which Social Services get things done it could be years before they put their plan into action.[disgust]

[rfr10]

If after advising the parents on nutrition for their child, they still fail to change anything then, yes, it would be the way to go as the child is in danger. I would expect it to be temporary though- a month or so to get the child on track of healthy eating.

[rich]

Regarding the sad plight of the Dundee tubbies, there is no effective treatment for their problems. The over-eating is clearly some sort of symptom of underlying problems, likely of a psychiatric nature.
I hate being blunt about this but it is an unpleasant truth that most people who are grossly obese, or homeless, or victims of violence have a great deal of responsibility for their situation.
One can offer medical advice, or provide temporary shelter, or bring legal restraining orders but one should not be optimistic about achieving results.
Schizophrenia is something of an exception, as is alcoholism. However there is medication for schizophrenics and a lively support movement. As for alcoholism - it affects everybody and there are a variety of approaches to treating it.
But I would counsel against ordinary citizens getting involved at any level with families like the Dundee example. Leave it to the professionals.

[Venture]

Dosen't it make you think though. If the family had not contacted the social work department for help with handling their children in the first place they would not be in the situation that they are in now.

[karia]

Dosen't it make you think though. If the family had not contacted the social work department for help with handling their children in the first place they would not be in the situation that they are in now.

A very good point venture!

[sam]

Just a thought, but what would be worse having your child put into care or for the child to develope a serious medical condition, these kids didnt get that size over night and although the mother says they are fed proper home cooking, it may not just be so much what they eat but how much they are eating.
The childrens health must come first and be a high priority, so I would say that NO the social service's are doing the right thing here.
Has it not occured to the parents that maybe even the kids diet could be a contibuting factor to their behaviour.

[karia]

The family sought help!

They raised the issue and asked for assistance.........

why would anyone ridicule them for that??:confused

[TBH]

There is too much of social workers sticking their collective noses where they are not needed when they should be sticking them into situations where they are.

[sam]

Why is it that when the social service's step in its always the same comments of "why dont the butt out", but when they dont get involved it's comments of "where were social service's" lets face it they are in a no win situation.

Yes it does seem rash to take the kids into care, but i'm sure if they get plenty of excercise and a healthy diet they will lose weight and this can be avoided, their doctor can refer them to a dietician.
The most important thing here is the kids, There are so many obese kids and nothing getting done to help them, why cant people see the dangers of being overweight.

The parents have asked for help here and are not happy at the outcome, why dont they try to work along with social services and not against them:confused

[TBH]

Why is it that when the social service's step in its always the same comments of "why dont the butt out", but when they dont get involved it's comments of "where were social service's" lets face it they are in a no win situation.

Yes it does seem rash to take the kids into care, but i'm sure if they get plenty of excercise and a healthy diet they will lose weight and this can be avoided, their doctor can refer them to a dietician.
The most important thing here is the kids, There are so many obese kids and nothing getting done to help them, why cant people see the dangers of being overweight.

The parents have asked for help here and are not happy at the outcome, why dont they try to work along with social services and not against them:confusedI think you will find that the social services seem to go with the easy option of removing children from families that are willing to recieve help and they seem to by-pass the families that are mistreating their children.

[sam]

That may be so in some cases not all, the media always pick up when something goes wrong or when someone is unhappy with the outcome, but they are never so keen to mention all the case's where kids are helped.

I know plenty of folk who have had help with social service's.

[Whitewater]

I'm no lover of the Social Services, but having said that, we unfortunately always get to hear of their mistakes, not much publicity about their success rate.

When I was young (sometime in the distant past) we did not really have too many obese children around. We ate well, but it was all home cooked food, we had a good active outdoor life and no distractions like TV and computer games, our games were all real and energy consuming. Now fast/junk foods are all too easily purchased, parents don't have the time to cook proper meals, it is all too easy to give the kids money for take-away food, which they eat without supervision, all contain too much sugar and salt. However, when I was young we did not seem to have the same 'peer pressure' as our modern day counterparts. No pressure on us to have the latest in designer cloths or the latest play station. There could be hidden psychiatric problems, perhaps with their family life, school friends, bullying, etc. the list is endless. I think children today have far too many problems/pressures to cope with. That, combined with the ease of obtaining junk food is a deadly combination.