Legal News
Obese Children May Face Adoption (8 September 2011)
Date: 08/09/2011
Two parents who have let their children become obese have spoken of their concern that their children may be put up for adoption. Social services have accused the parents of failing to control the weights of their four obese youngsters and have warned the pair that their children may be fostered without contact or put up for adoption.
The case has been investigated for over three years, during which time the family have resided in a council-funded property designed especially for the monitoring of families with problems. In the two years spent in this property, social workers failed to impose rules on the children’s food intake. The 12-year-old son is said to have weighed 16 stone; his 11-year-old sister 12 stone; and his three-year-old sister four stone.
The couple, who reside in Dundee, were given just three months to try to reduce their children’s weights. When their attempts failed, the children were placed in foster care. Doctors reported that the children increased in weight whenever they visited their parents. The father claims to have “tried very hard” to cook healthy food. While a council report is believed to have listed weight as a key concern, other parenting problems were highlighted. Dundee City Council states that children will not be removed from a family environment solely based on a weight issue.
The Childcare Law department at Duncan Lewis advises and represents parents, other family members, children, and children’s guardians in public law proceedings. The team of expert childcare solicitors are able to provide advice and empowerment during sensitive childcare disputes.