Ohio Third Grader Put In Foster Care for Weighing 200 Pounds

By CP News Briefs, Sunday, November 27, 2011

An eight-year old weighing 200 pounds has been taken in to foster care in Ohio. The overweight child was taken from his family after county social workers decided that his mother was not doing enough to control his weight.

According to The Plain Dealer, the child is considered severely obese and is at risk of developing diabetes and hypertension.

The third grader from Cleveland is the first known case where state officials have taken a child into foster care because of issues regarding their weight.

Lawyers for the boy’s mother say that the boy is not facing any imminent danger to his health. They said the county overreached its authority when it took custody of the child last week.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services told The Plain Dealer that the child was removed because case workers regarded his mother’s ability to bring the boy’s weight down as medical neglect.

"This child's problem was so severe that we had to take custody," Mary Louise Madigan told The Plain Dealer.