More children could be taken away from their parents for being too FAT after judge ruled two overweight teenagers should go into foster care, lawyer claims
- Two teenagers were removed from the care of their parents due to weight
- Judge Gillian Ellis considered evidence at private family court hearing in Sussex
- The judge ruled that the youngsters should go into long-term foster care instead
- Lawyer Graham Coy since said judges may see more cases over teenage obesity
More children could soon be taken away from their parents for being too fat, a lawyer has claimed.
Two teenagers were recently removed from the care of their parents after council social services staff told a judge of concerns about their weight.
Judge Gillian Ellis considered evidence at a private family court hearing in Sussex in 2020 before details of the case emerged in a ruling published online earlier this month.
The judge, who said the family could not be identified in media reports, ruled that the youngsters should go into long-term foster care, describing the case as ‘very sad and unusual’.
More children could soon be taken away from their parents for being too fat, a lawyer has claimed (stock image)
Lawyer Graham Coy, who specialises in family court litigation and is based at Wilsons Solicitors, has since said that judges might see more cases involving teenage obesity.
‘I think we will,’ he told the PA news agency.
‘It is a serious issue which might not be receiving as much attention as it deserves.’
He said that social workers are unlikely to become involved merely because a child is obese.
Two teenagers were recently removed from the care of their parents after council social services staff told a judge of concerns about their weight (stock image)
‘There are many reasons why a child might be overweight or obese, and these will not always be due to the care they receive, e.g. genetic,’ he said.
‘No-one, I think, is suggesting that every overweight or obese child might be taken into care.’
He added: ‘The local authority is likely to become involved only where the care which the child is receiving is not good enough and where the child is seriously suffering.’