Extreme Obesity Case: 219-Pound Boy A Victim Of Abuse?
An 8 year old boy, weighing 219 pounds was taken away from his mother in Cleveland, Ohio after court proceedings ruled for the protection of the boy’s health.
The boy is malnourished, has a low self-esteem, and struggles to gain control of his motor skills, hampered by excessive fat and breathing troubles.
At what point is it justified to remove a child from its parents’ home because the child is over fat? In this case, you remove the boy from his home when his weight poses a serious threat to life, where medical neglect has been substantiated, and psychological abuse determined.
A child of 8 years old is at the stage of development where entrance into school presents challenges to new social and cognitive skills. This is the time where childhood friendships are established, self-esteem built, and reasoning aptitude developed. Mastery of these skills develops self-confidence whereas failure creates inferiority. A morbidly obese child faces extra challenges of social stigmatization, discrimination, and constant teasing.
Normal children of school age will have a weight increase of 4 - 6 pounds per year. Yet the 219-pound, 8-year-old boy, has a weight gain of 60 pounds in one year alone. His body mass index (BMI) of 60 is way beyond a normal BMI of 18-24. He was hospitalized at 7 years old for severe breathing problems, some due to “extra fat in his throat.” He is also diagnosed with sleep apnea, sleeps with a breathing device at nights, and can only walk short distances before his body rebels, forcing him to take a rest.
Doctors find no medical or genetic factors that predispose him to this unnatural weight gain. “Medical professionals concluded that the boy's weight was due to environmental reasons, such as his diet,” according to court records.
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