Goverment taking the piss.

[RetroIC Gaming 196]

The mother and father of seven children, six of whom are overweight, face the "unbearable" prospect of never seeing their four youngest again if authorities act on a threat to remove them.

 

Three girls aged 11, five and one, and a boy aged five, are to be put up for adoption or "fostered without contact" because their parents failed to help them slim down.

 

This means the parents will be unable to trace them and the family could only be reunited if the children attempt to find their family when they are grown up.

 

Social services warned the couple three years ago that their children would be taken away from them if they did not bring their weight under control.

 

 

[see also: Health concerns over 3-year-old toddler who weighs 9 stone]

 

 

The family spent two years living in a special council-funded house in which they were placed under a curfew and only three of the children were permitted to live with their parents at any one time.

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But although they were placed under constant supervision and social workers observed them during meal times, no dietary rules were imposed and there was no significant improvement in the children's weight.

 

On Tuesday social workers informed the parents, who have been married for 20 years, of their decision to permanently remove their children.

 

The couple, from Dundee, are not guilty of any crime and have faced no accusations of deliberate abuse or cruelty.

 

Critics said the case, which is without precedent in Britain, was a serious breach of the family's human rights and exposed the worrying extent to which the State can interfere in family life.

 

The mother, aged 42, told the Mail on Sunday: "They picked on us because of our size to start with and they just haven't let go, despite the fact we've done everything to lose weight and meet their demands."

 

The father, aged 56, added: "The pressure of living in the family unit would have broken anyone. We were being treated like children and cut off from the outside world. To have a social worker stand and watch you eat is intolerable."

 

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: "The council always acts in the best interests of children, with their welfare and safety in mind."

 

From Yahoo News.

 

What a f*cking joke.

 

You can't over feed a kid, but you can use them as a punch bag. (Baby Peter)

[Paul 584]

False analogy. The Baby P stuff wasnt legal either. And anyway just how big are these kids? Because over-feeding to the point that its effecting their health is something I too would consider to be an issue and possibly (depending on extent) a form of child abuse.

[Guest Gemsi]

[see also: Health concerns over 3-year-old toddler who weighs 9 stone]

 

This bit makes me think 9 stone, which to be fair is ridiculous!! Though unless there was signs of neglect or abuse can't see why the kids would be taken off the parents just for that.

[dsrchris 190]

Just send in one of those "biggest loser" stye programmes to get the whole family on the fit path?

[Paul 584]

Ok, over on the Daily Mirror sit

 

The couple admit experiencing “low grade” parenting problems since 2008 when they first came to social workers’ attention after one of the sons accused his father of hitting him on the forehead.

 

It is believed that the then 12-year-old son weighed 16 stone; his 11-year-old sister weighed 12 stone; and his three-year-old sister weighed four stone.

 

The couple, from Dundee, were given three months to bring the children’s weights down. That failed, and they were placed in foster care. But doctors noted that the children put on weight whenever they spent time with their parents.

 

A council report is said to have listed weight as the major concern, although there were other allegations such as the youngest child being found crawling unsupervised and “attempting to put dangerous objects” in her mouth.

 

 

Credit: Mirror.co.uk

 

 

I'd say thats an issue, especially if they have gotten bigger since then.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Put it this way, there 11 year old daughter weighs the same as me and I reckon I'm a bit more rotund then I need to be (and certainly more then I was).

 

But whilst it is good that people are trying to make parents more responsible for their childrens diets and trying to curb obesity on the flip side, in this country right now, it means they will have to take this hardline with a lot of parents and possibly place a lot of kids in care as a result.

 

Seriously come to Rochdale, McDonalds is breakfast and tea - the only square meal alot of kids get is the free one at school.

[Guest Gemsi]

Ouch, the son and daughter both weigh more than me, and I'm on the very borderline of obese. They must be huge!

[Guest John Hancock]

The 12 year old weighs as much as I do, and I'm 6'6.

[Guest Jimmy Redman]

The 11 year old girls weighs the same as me, and I'm tall.

 

Yeah, thats pretty gross.

[Guest John Hancock]

Also, whilst we're doing comparisons, the three year old mentioned in the article weighs more than my Mum.