Can My Child Be Removed From My Care For Being Overweight?

‘Can my child be removed from my care for being overweight?’ Family Law Solicitor, Melissa Knight discusses in her latest blog….

The National Child Measurement Programme statistics show that in 2017/18, an estimated 22.4% of children aged 4 to 5 in England were overweight and the percentage of children aged 10 to 11 who were overweight was 34.3%. Obesity rates are highest in the most deprived 10% of the population. In addition, the 2018 to 2019 Sport England Active Lives survey showed that only 47% of children and young people met the recommended guidelines of 60 minutes or more of physical activity a day.

When considering whether a child can be made subject to a care order and potentially removed from the care of parents, the Court must be satisfied that the child is suffering, or likely, significant harm; and that the harm, or likelihood of harm, is attributable to:

• the care given to the child, or likely to be given to him, if the order were not made, not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give to him/her; or
• the child being beyond parental control

Harm can include ill treatment, impairment of physical or mental health, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional harm.

What If My Child Is A Little Bit Overweight?

If a child is a little bit overweight, it is not going to be enough to meet the legal test that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. However, obesity in children can lead to risk of diabetes, heart failure or strokes for children when they become older so this does constitute the umbrella of “physical harm”. It can even lead to a higher risk of morbidity. Obesity could also cause a child to suffer emotional harm if they are experiencing bullying as a result of their weight or have self-conscious and negative thoughts as a result of their physical appearance.

A Recent Case: West Sussex County Council v A and B [2020] EWFC B62

The most recent case law in this area is the case of West Sussex County Council v A and B [2020] EWFC B62.where two teenagers were removed from the care of their family on a long-term basis due to the children being overweight.

In this case, the social work team had tried to support the family by providing them with fitness/ step trackers and even paid for gym memberships. Sadly, throughout the course of the care proceedings, the children’s weight did not reduce, the children did not keep up with the suggested exercise regime or provide the recordings from their fitness trackers. The family also signed up to Weight Watchers in a bid to remedy the concerns however the family did not attend on a regular basis.

There were other factors in the case that the Local Authority were worried about including the children’s presentation, hygiene and poor home conditions. The main reason why the Local Authority sought removal from the family’s care however was the children’s weight and the impact of this on the children’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

The Family Judge considering the case did recognise that this is a sad and unusual outcome, especially as there were a lot of positives including the children being bright, polite and engaging. The Court would have needed to perform a careful balancing exercise in respect of whether the physical and emotional harm caused to the children by being overweight would be more than the significant emotional harm of being removed from their parents.

Are Other Factors Taken Into Consideration?

Quite often there are a number of other factors that the social worker will be worried about combined with concerns about a child’s weight. However, if a child’s health is being significantly impacted then this factor alone may be enough for the Court to agree that a child should be removed from parents’ care. In most cases, the social work team will attempt to work with parents in the first instance to try and support them and draw up a plan which will assist in reducing a child’s weight including assisting with meal plans, referral to a dietician, exercise plans and education about food. There would also need to be some medical evidence that the child’s weight is causing harm to the child.

On the other end of the spectrum, children may also be removed for not being provided with enough food leading to hunger and health issues as a result of malnutrition.

Contact Us

If the Local Authority is seeking to remove your child/children from your care and you would like some legal advice then please get in touch by calling 01283 561531 or feel free to email me on m.knight@timms-law.com

Melissa Knight Photo