According to a recent survey, between 16 and 33 percent of all children and adolescents are obese. This means that they are 20 percent over their ideal weight bracket. Morbidly obese children are 50 to 100 percent over their normal weight bracket, and often have health problems due to the amount of food that they consume. Not long ago, a 200 pound 8-year-old child was removed from his home and put into the foster care system because his parents were seen unfit. The allegations against them claimed that they were allowing their son to eat his way into bad health and a lifetime of problems. If the parents had taken steps to control their son's weight, he would have been allowed to remain in the home with them.

Normally, cases like this are considered abuse and neglect cases in Juvenile Court. While it is not a very common happening, the government will intervene if parents allow their child to suffer from the consequences of excessive overeating. The child in this example should be approximately 60 pounds, according to the medical charts for an average 8-year-old. Many law experts argue whether or not it is fair and in the best interest of the child to remove him from his home to instill better eating habits. While the government may be able to help the child lose weight and exercise better caution by putting him in a new environment, this will probably be emotionally damaging.

In many cases, an obese child comes from a family with very poor eating habits. In these cases the entire family needs to reform their idea of nutrition, not just the child. Normally, the government uses removing a child from their home as a last resort. First, they will provide counseling and treatments for the family to teach them a well-balanced, healthy diet. Before removing the child, the officials talk to the parents, and reason with them. They try to compel them to reform their child's diet, and show the health implications of the child's current eating habits.

Only when parents deny any desire to correct their child's food intake does the government consider removing the child from the home. Because morbid obesity is a serious health disorder, the government reasons that parents who do not want to correct this in young children do not care about them to the necessary degree. The government would much rather employ a health counselor to help the family learn good exercise and food regulations. When a child is removed from his or her home because of a morbid obesity issue, it is not without much careful calculation.

First of all, the court will consider the wishes of the child's parents concerning custody. Next, the courts will look to the wishes of the child, and the interactions between the child and the rest of the family. Also, they will note the child's adjustment to a new home, school, and community, and the mental and physical health of the child. They will also consider whether or not there was physical violence or the threat of physical violence in the home, and ongoing abuse. In obesity cases, the courts carefully consider how removing the child from the home would better the physical health of him or her.

If your child is morbidly obese, encourage him or her to eat healthier by fixing nutritious, light and vitamin-rich meals. Do not allow your child to consume vast amounts of fast food and regulate his or her portions. Involve him or her in a sport to get exercise, and do not tolerate excessive gorging. If you are teachable and receptive to any concerns from your child's school board or government authorities, then your case will not be considered child abuse.