Child taken into care after parents let them EAT too much

Social services removed an obese youngster from their parents’ care because they ‘let the child eat too much’.

The child, from Manchester, was removed from its parents over fears for the youngster’s health and was just one of 32,810 children taken into care in 2016/17.

The number equivalent to 90 a day, is the biggest rise in seven years and includes children as young as two. 

The child, from Manchester, was removed from its parents over fears for the youngster’s health and was just one of 32,810 children taken into care in 2016/17 (stock image)

A Freedom of Information request revealed that children across the country have been removed for reasons including parents failing to get them to brush their teeth, letting them spend too much time in front of the television and smoking around their offspring.

Child protection expert Claude Knights, of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, told The Sun: ‘Many people may find it astounding to remove a child due to obesity or bad teeth, but they could be indicators of bigger problems.’

More than four million British children are too fat, according to an international study.

It found that four in ten youngsters aged five to 19 were medically obese or overweight.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the World Health Organisation said the total was up from 2.66million in 1975 to 4.53million last year.

The experts warned of an ‘absolute crisis’ in child health leading to heart disease, cancer and diabetes. 

‘These worrying trends reflect the impact of food marketing and policies across the globe, with healthy nutritious foods too expensive for poor families and communities,’ said Majid Ezzati, the Imperial professor who led the study.

‘The trend predicts a generation of children and adolescents growing up obese. We need ways to make healthy, nutritious food more available at home and school, especially in poor families and communities, and regulations and taxes to protect children from unhealthy foods.

‘Most high-income countries have been reluctant to use taxes and industry regulations to change eating and drinking behaviours.’  

The British Association of Social Workers said its members only act if a young person is at risk of ‘significant harm’.

 



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