An eight-year-old boy who weighs more than 200 pounds has been taken from his family and placed into foster care after social workers said his mother wasn’t doing enough to control his weight.

The Cleveland, Ohio third-grader is considered severely obese by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at risk for such diseases as diabetes and hypertension.

County officials who were monitoring the child’s health said the boy’s weight was caused by his environment and his mother was ignoring doctor’s orders on food and exercise, seeing this as medical neglect.

“This child’s problem was so severe that we had to take custody,” said Mary Louise Madigan of the county’s Department of Children and Family Services.  County workers had been aware of the problem for more than a year and had been working with the mother to help bring the boy’s weight down.

County workers were alerted to the boy’s weight early last year after his mother took him to a hospital for breathing problems. The boy was diagnosed with sleep apnea, which is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep and can be weight-related, and he was given a breathing machine.

“We have worked very hard with this family for 20 months before it got to this point,” the agency’s administrator, Patricia Rideout, said.  The Associated Press reported that a judge approved the decision to put the boy into foster care.

The identity of the boy and mother have not been revealed. The mother did speak to the newspaper and is obviously devastated.

“They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don’t love my child… Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle change, and they are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying.”

Lawyers for his mother, who is a supply teacher, say the county overreached its mandate by arguing the boy’s health is in imminent danger.  Lawyers are also questioning the emotional trauma of being taken away from his home.

What do you think about this? Severe or necessary?

Should parents lose custody of their very obese children?