News of the World  09 September 2007  [Colin Waine]

 

THREE children have been taken away from their parents and put into council care because they are TOO FAT.  Experts said they were dangerously overweight for their age and feared for their long-term health. And social workers argued their parents were guilty of NEGLECT because they were unable or unwilling to help their kids to lose weight. But the three cases may be just the tip of an iceberg because local authorities do not always list obesity as the reason children are taken into care. They are lumped in with figures for abuse and neglect.  The plight of the three overweight children was revealed after we made a request under the Freedom of Information Act. It follows the storm over Connor McCreaddie, eight, who was nearly taken into care earlier this year when he reached a staggering 14 stone.  After an outcry, Connor, from Wallsend, near Newcastle upon Tyne, was allowed to stay at home with mum Nicola.

 

But in the first six months of this year, social workers in Tower Hamlets, London, and Lincolnshire, DID take youngsters into care because of "issues relating to obesity"  And in July, an eight-year-old girl was taken away from her parents by Cumbria County Council and made a ward of court because she was too fat.  Her mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said last night: "Our world has fallen apart. I'd do anything to get her back.  "Our daughter doesn't overeat. She has always been chubby but she's always out playing with other kids. The only bad thing we've given her is fizzy drinks."   Lambeth Council in London also revealed that it had placed a child on the "at risk register"—the stage before being taken into care—because of weight. Britain's children are now the fattest in the world. There are around a million under-16s who are dangerously overweight—mostly because of bad diet and lack of exercise. 

Colin Waine said care orders should be "absolutely the last resort".  He said: "What we should be doing is monitoring children from birth so we can detect any deviations from the norm and take early action. We should be able to work with the families to prevent a severe condition, like the child becoming obese.  "If the parents refuse to collaborate and the child does become obese I consider that a form of child abuse and taking them into care may be the last resort."