Word: weights
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...latest case to make headlines concerns a Scottish couple who lost custody of two of their six children on the basis of what was, their lawyer claims, a failure to reduce the kids' weight following warnings from Scottish social services. The couple lost their Oct. 14 appeal in a case that is far from clear-cut - representatives of Dundee City say they would never remove children "just because of a weight issue." But obesity appears to be the primary reason South Carolina mom Jerri Gray lost custody of her 14-year-old, 555-lb. son in May. She was arrested...
...parents' share of responsibility in weight gain isn't always easy to judge. "It's unfair to blame solely the parents, when there's a myriad of other factors influencing a child's weight," says Dr. Dana Rofey of the University of Pittsburgh, whose weight-management clinic is regularly called on during custody battles in which one divorced parent blames the other for making a child obese. She says contributing factors include not just genetic predisposition and socioeconomic status but also environmental factors, like whether children have access to parks and playgrounds. Rofey also sees children of all ages sneaking...
...then there's the issue of parents, sometimes obese themselves, who can be in denial of their children's weight problems. When parents refuse to address the issue, Fry wants kids to be put in the care of professionals - with the provision that parents may visit - and that steps are taken to alter the family's diet so the child may eventually return to a healthier home. Last year, Fry introduced a motion to that effect at the U.K.'s National Obesity Forum conference but could convince just one-third of the delegates to support it. "I knew that...
...Sothern also notes how difficult it is for many of her patients to shed weight, including one boy whom social workers recently considered removing from his home. "They were saying, 'This mother must be feeding him to death. We need to remove him.' I said, 'Guys, before you do that, we need to look at more options - he's obese, but he's fit, enrolled in sports. He can run. His breathing has improved...
This child, like Gray's son, had difficulty finding a weight-loss program for which he wasn't over the cutoff weight. Gray's lawyer, Grant Varner, says she had been unable to find any programs in South Carolina that could handle her son. Even programs dealing with morbidly obese kids reportedly told her that he was beyond their maximum weight. (See the video "Heavy Mexico...