'Fat kids to be put into care'

DANGEROUSLY fat kids could be taken from their parents and put into care, council chiefs declared yesterday.
They warned that the worst cases of obesity will be increasingly seen as evidence of "parental neglect."

Social workers will have to step in to offer advice to protect the child's welfare.

In the most extreme cases, children could even be taken away from parents.

The stark message came as town hall bosses revealed the impact of fat Britain:


Councils are fitting super-size cremation furnaces to cope with fat corpses


Ambulances have fitted extra-wide stretchers and winches for obese patients


Schools are buying bigger seats for classrooms and canteens


Action

The dramatic warning was delivered by the Local Government Association, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales.

Around one in four people in England are obese, so overweight that it threatens their health.

But experts fear HALF the population will be affected by 2032.

LGA public health spokesman David Rogers said some councils were already taking actions "where parents are putting children's health in real danger.

"Councils would step in to deal with an under-nourished and neglected child so should a case with a morbidly obese child be different?

"There needs to be a national debate about the extent to which it is acceptable for local authorities to take action in cases where the welfare of children is in real jeopardy."

So far, only three councils – Tower Hamlets, Cumbria and North Tyneside – have already considered taking action against parents whose kids were dangerously overweight.

But Mr Rogers said childhood obesity had now become an issue for every council.

Tough action was needed to protect the health of millions of children.

He said the impact of obesity was also becoming a growing burden on taxpayers.

Lewisham Council in London has already ordered a special 44 inch wide cremation furnace to cope with bigger corpses.

The average coffin is around 16 to 20 inches wide, but there are increasing numbers of "super-size" coffins measuring up to 40 inches.

A new 42 inch cremator is being ordered in Blackburn, while King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council have one which can take 40 inch – or 1 metre – coffins.

Mr Rogers said many schools were having to buy bigger furniture to cope with bigger pupils.

In Wales, ambulances have been fitted with wider, strengthened stretchers – as well as a winch – to cope with overweight patients.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has considered charging the police or hospitals a fee if they have to be called in to help lift grossly overweight people.

"Obesity is increasingly costing the council taxpayer dear," said Mr Rogers.

"It falls to social services to care for the house-bound obese adults, to invest money in encouraging people to be active and to replace school furniture that is just too small for larger pupils."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...icle1564557.ece

We will take obese children into care, social workers warn parents

Social workers will have to take 'dangerously overweight' children from their parents and put them into care if the obesity epidemic continues, town hall chiefs warned today.

The Local Government Association, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales, said seriously fat children should be classed as examples of 'parental neglect'.

The warning came as it was revealed the cost of dealing with 'fat Britain' is soaring every year and could even impact on council tax bills.

It has been estimated that by 2012 one million children in England will be obese and by 2025 almost a quarter of boys will be classed as dangerously overweight.

Tower Hamlets is one of three councils which have had to consider taking action against parents of obese children and it has been a factor in at least 20 child protection cases in the past year.

The LGA said that as the obesity problem became worse, it was likely local authorities would have to step in more and more by putting children under review and offering help and advice to parents.

It said Britain was fast becoming the 'obesity capital of the world' and more should be done to tackle the problem.

The LGA set out eight ways in which the obesity epidemic was having an expensive impact on local public services. These were:

Social workers stepping in to deal with parents who allow their children to become dangerously obese.

Caring for housebound people suffering from conditions and illnesses made worse by obesity, including arthritis, heart disease and diabetes.

Furniture in school classrooms, gyms and canteens having to be made wider for larger children and to meet new standards.

Town halls widening crematoria furnaces to cater for spiralling numbers of larger bodies.

Fire services being called in to winch obese members of the public out of dangerous buildings in emergencies such as fires.

Ambulances being re-equipped with extrawide stretchers and winches for obese people.

Adapting obese residents' houses and helping with the provision of walking aid.

Fears that public transport, including buses and trams, will accommodate fewer passengers as people get bigger.

David Rogers, LGA spokesman on public health, said: 'Councils are increasingly having to consider taking action where parents are putting children's health in real danger.

'As the obesity epidemic grows, these tricky cases will keep cropping up.

'Councils would step in to deal with an undernourished and neglected child so should a case with a morbidly obese child be different?

'If parents consistently place their children at risk through bad diet and lack of exercise is it right that a council should step in to keep the child's health under review?

'It is vital that councils, primary care trusts and the NHS work with parents to ensure children don't end up dangerously overweight.

'Obesity is increasingly costing the council taxpayer dear. There needs to be a national debate about the extent to which it is acceptable for local authorities to take action in cases where the welfare of children is in real jeopardy.'

Earlier this month, the Government came under fire for banning the word 'obese' from letters being sent to parents warning them of the dangers to their child.

The cost to the NHS of treating seriously overweight people now tops £billion a year.

Last night, public health expert Professor David Hunter declared that obesity posed as big a risk to Britain as terrorism.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rn-parents.html

And guess what, most social workers have no education in nutrition, not even the standard qualifications. They get their education from the TV and magazines. And they already give dietary advice, often very random dietary advice. Will they get education in this area, or will they all continue to be allowed to make their own judgements?

One thing I have heard over and over from social workers is that you have to eat a "balanced" diet (whatever they think that is, they haven't qualified that to me so far). The only other advice I've had is that dairy intolerant/allergic children still need dairy products and that all children must have breakfast cereal.

I had a dietician tell me that I needed to eat dairy despite the fact that I explained to her that I am severely allergic to it and I was in hospital due to an allergic reaction! So if the dieticians can't get it right, the social workers certainly won't...